High energy prices and rising inflation are affecting market conditions across Europe. According to economists' forecasts, the most difficult period will be the coming winter. However, Poland is in a more favourable situation despite rising inflationary pressures, as JLL experts argue in their latest report on the retail market in Poland for Q3 2022. According to Oxford Economics, Poland's GDP will grow by an average of 3.0% per year between 2022 and 2026, well above the average for the EU as a whole and the eurozone (1.8%). In addition, Poland is projected to see the greatest increase in retail spending until 2026. Oxford Economics also reports that retail sales, in real value terms, are expected to grow by 4.6% per annum until 2026, placing Poland among the top European countries.

JLL Romania advised Euroest Car, a company specialising in the import and distribution of original car parts, in leasing 9,500 sqm in CTPark Bucharest Chitila, a Class A industrial park owned by CTP Romania in the northwest of Bucharest.

Over the last few quarters, a new office space supply gap in Warsaw, caused by record low levels of space under construction and predominantly forecast for 2023, has been widely discussed. This appears to also be the case with Poland's largest regional markets albeit slightly lagging behind Warsaw, says JLL. 

Q3 2022 saw up to a 30% q/q drop in the number of flats sold on the primary markets of Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, the Tri-City, Poznań and Łódź. The total number of flats sold in these markets was only 6,600. JLL experts emphasise that the last time such low demand for real estate occurred in Q2 2020 when sales offices were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic wave.

Q3 2022 in the Warsaw office market saw record-low developer activity. At the end of September, only 160,000 sqm of space was under construction. As a result, new supply is expected to drop significantly in 2023, with only 60,000 sqm of office space coming to the market, JLL reports.

Prague's residential market is seeing record construction this year, with more housing starts, but demand for apartments is slowing down. On the other hand, however, the growth of housing prices is slowing and mortgage interest rates are rising. This is also why the share of vacant flats supply in the Prague residential market has increased too, says JLL's regular report.

The Prague office real estate market reached several records in the first nine months of 2022. It marked year-on-year records in the growth of new office space, record demand from tenants, and even much more office space was leased this year than a year earlier, according to JLL's regular quarterly analysis.     

Trei Real Estate and Jones Lang LaSalle Poland jointly published a new market report on retail parks and convenience centres in Poland. Here are the key findings: Within the retail sector as a whole, investors focus primarily on retail parks, convenience centres, DIY stores and food markets. Prime yields for high-end retail parks have maintained a stable level between 6.5 and 6.75%. The Polish retail investment market saw five banner years of very strong investment volumes between 2015 and 2019, each achieving a transaction total of €2.0 billion to 2.5 billion. The year-end volumes of 2020 and 2021 were significantly lower at c. €750 million and €1.0 billion, respectively. By contrast, investments in 2022 already stood at c. €760 million by mid-year. Accordingly, Trei and JLL Poland feel optimistic about 2022 as a whole.

Inflation and the energy crises have not influenced the Czech industrial real estate market yet as the market broke two historical records in the period of Q3 2022. More than half a million sqm of new industrial space was completed and the vacancy rate fell below 1% for the first time in recorded history, says the newest JLL report.

Interest in office space in Prague is not slowing down. Office demand is growing by tens of percents year-on-year, the vacancy rate is slightly decreasing and over 190,000 sqm is under construction, according to the latest office market analysis for Q3 2022 by the Prague Research Forum.