Property Forum talked to Andrew Sim, Managing Director for Europe and Horațiu Florescu, Chairman & CEO Knight Frank Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece & Serbia, about the segments driving property investments in CEE and the impact of rising inflation and interest rates on transactions.

Record levels of investment poured into European residential assets last year, with spending nearly equal to that of office investment, Knight Frank reports. Just shy of €100 billion of assets were traded in the European residential investment sector in 2021, up 60% on 2020, analysis of data from RCA shows.

Residential investment sectors are gaining traction across Europe, with the volume of capital targeting student accommodation, the private rented sector and purpose-built age-targeted housing continuing to rise, according to Knight Frank’s European Residential Investment Survey 2022.

Knight Frank Hungary has appointed Petra Holy to lead the OSCA (Occupier Services and Commercial Agency) services as Head of Office Division. Petra is an experienced leasing, property and asset manager with over 15 years of demonstrated experience in the real estate industry, specializing in landlord representation and strategic consultancy. Previously, she has been involved in the industry both as a consultant and as a landlord, which gives her a full coverage overview. 

Knight Frank CSEE has announced the expansion of its European network with a new commercial property office in the heart of Athens.

Knight Frank has formally opened a dedicated office in Sofia, becoming a fully branded Knight Frank business from May 2021.

Belgian property developer Atenor has started the construction of UP-site, its first residential project in Bucharest. The complex comprises 270 apartments in two residential high-rise buildings of 12 and 25 floors with a common ground-floor. The project is located in Floreasca, one of the city’s exclusive areas. 

According to Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report 2021 released today, private capital has been undeterred by the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to invest in commercial real estate around the world. The volume of private capital invested globally was circa $232 billion - 9% above the ten-year average, albeit down on 2019 levels.

There was a monumental €26 billion (£23.5 billion) investment into the European data centre sector for the first half of 2020, despite the impact of COVID-19, according to a report by Knight Frank in partnership with DC Byte. This is over four times the $5 billion annual average figure and a colossal increase on last year’s $2 billion investment volumes. Take-up in H1 2020 was also 50% higher year-on-year at 282MW.

Knight Frank’s Active Capital 2020 finds that cross-border investment into safe-haven locations and ‘near-neighbours’ are set to dominate global capital flows in 2021, as COVID-19 shifts trends in real estate investment and global mobility.