For the first time since Q4 2018, the vacancy rate on the Budapest office market increased in Q1 2020, albeit only by 0.6 pps. Total demand in the first quarter of 2020 reached 79,660 sqm, stagnating year-on-year, according to BRF’s latest figures.

JLL and CBRE have been selected by Immobel Poland as agents responsible for the commercialization process of Central Point in Warsaw. The investment is being built on the corner of Marszałkowska and Świętokrzyska Streets and above an intersection of the two metro lines of Warsaw.

At the end of 2019, the total modern office stock in Łódź amounted to 528,300 sqm with more than 90,000 sqm currently under construction. Cushman & Wakefield has summarised 2019 on Łódź’s office market.

The coronavirus pandemic could be the catalyst for increased working from home in the future, a survey by Colliers International has revealed.

In 2019, Lublin’s total office stock amounted to 191,200 sqm with no new office projects delivered to the market in the last 12 months. In 2017-2018, the city’s office stock expanded by nearly 40% following a period of robust local development activity. Cushman & Wakefield summarised 2019 on Lublin’s office market.

As the global pandemic progresses across borders and within countries, Cushman & Wakefield’s EMEA market research experts shared what they are seeing on the ground in their countries.

Throughout the first quarter of 2020, the total transaction volume on the commercial real estate market in Poland exceeded €2.4 billion, according to preliminary results by Avison Young. This volume is almost three times as high as compared to the corresponding period of 2019, however, in line with Avison Young forecasts from December last year. Robust investment activity has been mainly noted in the industrial and office sectors. Asian investors dominated investment volume in terms of capital origin, with a particular focus on the industrial sector. At the same time, a growing investment activity of CEE investors is continuously observed, especially on the office market.

As it was reported yesterday, the €300 million sale of NEPI Rockcastle’s Romanian office portfolio to AFI Europe has been suspended. In their separate announcements, the buyer claims that the completion of the transaction was impossible due to the COVID-19 related restrictions imposed by the authorities, while the seller insists that these restrictions did not prevent completion. The two companies have not reached a consensus on postponing the transaction’s deadline. NEPI Rockcastle has interpreted AFI Europe’s actions as a wish to cancel the acquisition and is now asking the company for a €15 million compensation.

CPI Property Group has taken over the property management of the Eurocentrum office building which it acquired in November 2019.  

The first online panel of Property Forum took place yesterday, where six experts discussed the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on the real estate market in CEE. Our panelists discussed who could be the biggest winners and losers of the current situation, what to expect in the logistics and retail markets and how the current spread of remote working may affect the office market and coworking operators. They also explained the possible impact of the coronavirus crisis on investments and ongoing and planned developments.