The flow of international capital to Mediterranean countries is still very strong but investors seem reluctant to put more money into the office and retail sectors due to growing economic uncertainties, panellists emphasized in the discussion at the recent CEE Property Forum 2022 in Vienna.

The volume of investments in commercial real estate reached a total value of €368 million in the Czech real estate market in Q3 2022. Most of the investment transactions were mainly in the office and retail segments. Czech investors were the most active investors in this period. Demand for prime real estate is still stronger than what is on offer on the market, Knight Frank said in its report.

Investment transactions in Romania’s commercial property sector amounted to €656 million in the first three quarters of 2022, which was up 16.5% compared to the same period of last year, with offices driving deal volumes, according to real estate consultancy JLL Romania. 

Despite the dwindling economy in Europe, the logistics market in CEE countries has still a bright future ahead, claimed the participants of the logistics panel at CEE Property Forum 2022 in Vienna.

Chinese, German and Dutch buyers remain active in the residential market in Hungary, especially in Budapest and some popular touristic regions. The weakening local currency makes homes even more attractive to invest in. Property Forum talked to László Balogh, Chief Economist at ingatlan.com, Hungary’s largest listing platform, about the latest trends and the possible new wave of foreign buyers coming to the country.

Several big new hotels are to be open in Prague in the next few years. Most of them will be operated by multinational chains and most of them will be the reconstructions of historical sites, except only two new of them that are planned by Penta Investments. For one of them, Penta obtained a €38.5 million loan from the Komerční banka, writes E15.cz.

A neglected plot of land in Prague 5 has now been newly acquired for billions of crowns by Austrian developer UBM. It plans to build 150 flats there. It wants to start building next year, but the project is still in the planning process. The developer has not disclosed the purchase price, the seller or the details of the construction, writes E15.cz. 

Wood & Company has increased its stake in the Bratislava shopping centre Aupark by 27%. Currently, Wood & Company and TAM own 87% of the asset. The stable annual performance of over 11% is now confirmed by Wood & Company's real estate funds.

Immofinanz has signed a letter of intent for the sale of its Hungarian office properties to S Immo. This transaction is taking place through close cooperation within the CPI Property Group to realise synergy effects and can be used to extend Immofinanz’s myhive office solutions to the entire group. The Hungarian portfolio includes six buildings in Budapest with roughly 124,000 sqm of rentable space. The closing of the transaction could take place before the end of 2022.

One of the most important questions among the participants of CEE Property Forum 2022 in Vienna was “Is it still safe to invest in real estate located in Central and Eastern Europe?”. The answer is positive. It is still safe, though not everywhere.