Most industry insiders were eagerly awaiting Q2 sales statistics. Despite the fact that, effectively, the "2% safe loan" program has only been in effect since July 3rd, its impact on quarterly sales performance was significant. For another consecutive quarter, the number of units sold by developers in the six largest markets was about one-third higher compared to the previous three months. Experts at JLL summarised the second quarter of 2023 in the residential market in Poland.

According to a new report by JLL, total retail space under construction in Poland totalled 387,000 sqm at the end of Q1, with 69% generated by retail parks. In addition, nearly 94,000 sqm of the first quarter’s total was attributable to shopping centres with the largest projects being the Sukcesja shopping centre in Łódź (currently undergoing renovation), the Bawełnianka shopping centre in Bełchatów (already opened in April), and Galeria Goplana located in Leszno. The convenience retail format had the sector’s smallest percentage share in space under construction.

The Polish warehouse real estate market has slowed after a record period of growth that was achieved during the pandemic. Gross demand for warehouse space in Poland for Q1 2023 totalled more than 982,000 sqm, a 35 percent year-on-year drop and an 18 percent decline compared to the five-year average. According to JLL's analysis, however, Q1 2023 was better than the corresponding periods in 2019 and 2020. Most of the new demand was in Poland's major logistics regions.

The 12th JLL Charity Beach Volleyball Tournament of the Real Estate Industry will be held on August 3 at the Monta Beach Volley Club in Warsaw. The goal of this year's event will be to support the construction of the Ronald McDonald House at the Children’s Memorial Health Institute. Property Forum is a media partner of this event. 

As it was announced in April, JLL will soon transfer most of its existing business lines to iO Partners in Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. US-based real estate private equity fund manager Michael Stanton, Founder of iO Partners, talked to Property Forum about the details of the deal and shared the new company’s plans for the future.

H2 Energy, a subsidiary of Westa Investments, has signed an agreement with JLL. The contract covers advisory support regarding investment located in Poland’s Lubuskie province. The investor plans to build one of the largest Hydrogen Valleys in Europe, which will be based on large-scale wind and photovoltaic farms. The role of JLL's experts in the project will be to obtain a partner interested in jointly developing the hydrogen hub with H2 Energy.

Aleksandra Gawrońska, Director, Head of Residential Research at JLL Poland talked to Property Forum about the current recovery of the Polish residential market, the stance of banks financing new investments and the possible scenarios for the nearest future.

JLL Poland has been selected as the exclusive agent responsible for the commercialization process of the Unity Centre complex, the largest business complex in Kraków. The project is owned by UNIQA Real Estate Management and GD&K Group.

The Czech industrial and logistics market reached the 11 million sqm mark at the end of the first quarter of 2023. It has grown by more than 1 million sqm over the past 12 months. During Q1 2023, a total of 217,900 sqm of new industrial space was completed, representing an increase of 25 % quarter-on-quarter (Q4 2022 vs. Q1 2023). Approximately 1.23 million sqm of industrial space is currently under construction, 34 % of which is being built on a speculative basis. Despite the high volume of new completions, the vacancy rate remains low, at the level of 1.4 %, JLL reports.

JLL Poland has been selected as the exclusive agent in charge of the commercialization process of the LIFE Building office building - formerly Atrium Tower, which belongs to the Vig Fund, a group company of Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe.