ARTICLES LABELLED WITH TAG regional cities

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of hybrid working, the office market in Sofia has been developing extensively in recent years. Demand continues to increase, mainly due to IT and outsourcing sector representatives, and supply still cannot fully meet it. However, property developers in regional markets are still exercising caution when initiating new investments. These are some of the main conclusions of Colliers' latest report on offices in regional cities in Bulgaria.

Cushman & Wakefield has summarized the first quarter of 2023 and trends shaping the Polish office market. While development activity in the core office locations continues to slow, occupier demand appears to be recovering, particularly in regional cities. Prime office rents in central locations are, however, on an upward trajectory.

New office supply in the first three months of 2023 totalled 68,100 sqm and was delivered in three cities only: Kraków, Wrocław and Tricity. According to Savills, at the end of March, over 1 million sqm of office space was vacant, equating to an average vacancy rate of close to 16%.

According to a report published by Newmark Polska, during the first three months of 2023, occupier demand on Poland’s regional city office markets remained strong amid increasing office availability and a further drop of development activity. The markets continue to adapt to the new standard created by the rise of the hybrid working model and the growing focus on flexibility in office layouts and uses.

In the first quarter of 2023, developers focused on regional markets in Poland. Kraków, Wrocław, and Tri-City have been enriched with new office spaces. Meanwhile, no new office buildings were built in Warsaw. Current interest from tenants remains at a fairly high level. Demand recorded in Q1 2023 was distributed proportionally to the Warsaw market and regional cities. Tenants attach importance to ESG issues and the comfort of working from the office for their employees. The challenge facing the office sector is rising service charges. AXI IMMO presents data summarizing Q1 2023 on the office market.

The Polish Chamber of Commercial Real Estate (PINK) has published figures summarizing office market in eight major regional markets in Poland (Kraków, Wrocław, the Tri-City, Katowice, Poznań, Łódź, Lublin, Szczecin) for Q1 2023. The data is sourced from advisory companies from the commercial real estate sector (BNP Paribas Real Estate, CBRE, Colliers, Cushman&Wakefield, JLL, Knight Frank, Newmark Polska, Savills) and includes information on existing modern office stock, new completions, take-up volumes and vacancy rates.

Despite the lack of significant changes in credit availability, high inflation and rising prices, residential property sales in the last quarter of 2022 bettered the previous quarter’s performance. Sales growth was recorded in each of the six major markets with an average q-o-q of 29%, says JLL advisory agency. 

According to a report published by Newmark Polska, in 2022 Poland’s regional city markets overtook Warsaw in terms of total modern office stock. Their overall vacancy rate held firm amid moderate development activity.

In 2023, offices in Poland will be more expensive, and their availability in the top locations of the largest cities will be lower, says Mateusz Strzelecki, Partner, Head of Tenant Representation at Walter Herz.

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.