Commercial real estate investment in Slovakia reached €244 million across 8 transactions in the first half of 2026, according to analysis by CBRE Slovakia. Foreign investors accounted for 78% of total investment activity, equivalent to €190 million, with Czech investors representing 73% of that foreign share. Domestic investors contributed the remaining 22%, or €54 million.

Poland's regional office markets recorded total take-up of 307,350 sqm in the first half of 2026, representing a 20% decrease year-on-year, according to data from Avison Young. The combined modern office stock across the eight tracked regional cities stands at 6.76 million sqm, with a vacancy rate of 17.3%, down 0.1 percentage points quarter-on-quarter and 0.2 percentage points year-on-year.

Romanians spent more than €42 billion in major retail chains in 2025, up 5.6% on 2024 and 77% above the 2019 level, according to the Romania Retail Snapshot 2026 report published by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox, based on the financial results of 125 companies across 13 retail segments. Retailers recorded an average annual revenue growth of 10% between 2019 and 2025, outpacing cumulative inflation over the same period.

Investment transaction volume across the CEE-5 region (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania) reached €5.5 billion in the first half of 2026, up 6% year-on-year, according to a Knight Frank report. Poland remained the largest market, accounting for 55% of total volume, with transaction volume rising 77% year-on-year. Knight Frank forecasts that annual investment volume in Poland could reach €6 billion in 2026, the highest level since the pandemic. The Czech Republic accounted for 26% of CEE-5 volume, Hungary for 11%, and Romania and Slovakia for 4% each.

Poland's hotel market has entered a phase of stable growth after several years of post-pandemic recovery. More than 2,600 hotels are currently operating in the country, with the number of available beds rising from 321,000 to 334,700 between 2024 and 2025, a 4.3 per cent year-on-year increase. As of March 2026, 263 hotels operated under 58 brands belonging to 17 international chains. "After several years of recovery, the Polish hotel market has entered a phase of stable growth. Demand remains strong, while hotels continue to improve their operating performance. Investor activity is robust, and alongside new projects and the expansion of international brands, the modernisation and repositioning of existing properties are becoming increasingly important," said Katarzyna Tencza, Transaction Director at Walter Herz.

Occupier activity across Poland's regional office markets totalled 310,000 sqm in H1 2026, representing a 21% year-on-year decline, according to a new report by AXI IMMO. Despite the overall fall in leasing volume, net take-up rose 13% year on year, accounting for 59% of total demand, with renewals making up the remaining 41%. Lease transactions signed in Q2 2026 were approximately 1.5 times higher than in Q1, though this was insufficient to offset a subdued start to the year. The largest deals included Brown Brothers Harriman's new lease at WITA C in Kraków (13,700 sqm), Enea Group's renewal and expansion at Business Garden Poznań (11,500 sqm), and Adtran's renewal at Tensor Y in Gdynia (6,800 sqm). The IT, manufacturing and business services sectors recorded the highest leasing volumes.

Manufacturing is gaining ground in Romania's industrial and logistics market, with approximately 28% of publicly announced leasing transactions in the first half of 2026 involving manufacturing space, almost double the previous year's share and well above the typical 10-15% range, according to Colliers. Around two-thirds of demand came from new leases or relocations. Overall, publicly announced transactions reached approximately 340,000 sqm, around 20% below the level recorded in the first half of last year, but 47% above the average for the same period in 2017-2019.

Investment volumes in commercial real estate in the Czech Republic reached almost €1.14 billion in the first half of 2026, with the residential sector emerging as the second strongest investment segment. The period was shaped largely by Wood & Company's acquisition of 760 rental apartments in the Písnice district of Prague, which remains the largest investment transaction on the Czech market so far this year. According to Savills, the limited supply of large residential portfolios highlights growing institutional investor interest in the sector.

Slovakia's industrial and logistics property market continued to grow in the second quarter of 2026, with total leasing activity reaching approximately 131,000 sqm, a 23% year-on-year increase, according to a quarterly analysis by CBRE Slovakia. Net leasing activity, which excludes renewals and short-term leases, also rose 13% year-on-year to approximately 67,000 sqm.

Slovakia's retail market added approximately 12,000 sqm of new leasable space in the second quarter of 2026, according to an analysis by CBRE Slovakia. Footfall at shopping centres managed by the company grew 3% year-on-year, while tenant turnover remained stable. Prime yields held steady at 6.50% for shopping centres and 6.75% for retail parks.