Czech real estate fund Investika has decided to take another step in diversifying its real estate portfolio. Its latest acquisitions are luxury properties in Croatia for short-term rentals.

Czech investor Investika has quickly become one of the largest players in the local market and has already expanded internationally. The company is currently preparing two transactions in Warsaw and has its sights set on other EU countries, says Petr Čížek, CEO of Investika, in an interview with Property Forum.

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.

Almost ten years after becoming the 28th EU member state, Croatia is set to join both the Eurozone and Schengen Area at the beginning of 2023, integrating the country even deeper into the EU. But how will this affect the local real estate market?

The volume of Czech real estate investment transactions in Q3 2022 reached €149 million, which represents a 61% drop in comparison with Q3 2021. Cumulatively the investment volume totalled €1.4 billion. If we added transfers of single assets and portfolios among related parties, the quarterly volume reached €390 million, almost the same as in the same period last year, says 108 Agency.

The volume of investments in commercial real estate reached a total value of €368 million in the Czech real estate market in Q3 2022. Most of the investment transactions were mainly in the office and retail segments. Czech investors were the most active investors in this period. Demand for prime real estate is still stronger than what is on offer on the market, Knight Frank said in its report.

Wood & Company has increased its stake in the Bratislava shopping centre Aupark by 27%. Currently, Wood & Company and TAM own 87% of the asset. The stable annual performance of over 11% is now confirmed by Wood & Company's real estate funds.

The Czech logistics and industrial real estate markets are reporting new record numbers for the first half of 2022, and the records are certainly not over. Shopping centres and retail parks are also enjoying success, and many new spaces in this segment are expected to be completed in the next two years. Last but not least, the office market has also been doing well with almost 50,000 sqm of office space opened and half of it already pre-leased, while another almost 30,000 sqm will be completed this year, according to an analysis by CBRE experts. 

The Czech industrial real estate market has grown up to 10.14 million sqm in size and surpassed the 10 million sqm mark. In this period, the largest real estate transaction in the history of the Czech industrial market was also registered with a yet undisclosed distributor leasing almost 234,000 sqm, Colliers reported in their last analyses.

JRD has announced changes in top management positions. Alexandra Tomášková is now a two-time CEO as she will also lead JRD Development in addition to her position as CEO of JRD Land. The current head of this division, Martin Svoboda, continues to lead JRD Group.