At the end of May, the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, has approved an amendment to the building law that aims to accelerate approvals on large construction projects. If approved by the Senate and signed by the President, it should come into force on July 1, 2023. Property Forum asked two renowned market experts for their comments on the possible changes.

In a statement, the Management Board and Supervisory Board of S Immo have clearly expressed their opposition to the takeover offer by Immofinanz published in mid-May 2021.

A total of 14,193 residential properties were sold in Hungary in May, real estate group Duna House said in its monthly Transaction Estimate. This marks the strongest May in the market for the past couple of years as the figure was 5% higher than in May 2019.

Immofinanz recorded a significant improvement in the results of operations and net profit during the first quarter of 2021, which was still heavily influenced by the COVID-19 crisis.

CPI Property Group’s net rental income increased by 6% to €88 million in Q1 2021 compared to Q1 2020. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased by 7% to €90 million and funds from operations (FFO) increased by 4% to €61 million compared to Q1 2020. The company published its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2021.

In Q1 2021, home prices in Slovakia increased by only 2% compared to Q1 2020. The prices of new dwellings increased by 2.6% and prices of used dwellings rose by 1.5%, the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic announced.

Commercial property is viewed as having below-average risk levels in most CEE countries. Revenues from different asset classes are expected to recover to pre-COVID levels most rapidly in Poland, according to the RICS Global Commercial Property Monitor for Q1 2021.

Although many projected that office development projects would be cancelled due to the pandemic, that is not what the numbers are showing. Developments are ongoing despite the emergence of working from home and Eston forecasts about 160,000 sqm of offices for rent to be put on the market this year, following 230,000 sqm in 2020. Meanwhile, the pre-lease ratio of buildings under construction is lower than seen in previous years, in line with the current demand trend.

The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, has approved an amendment to the building law drafted by Regional Development Minister Klára Dostálová that aims to accelerate approvals on large construction projects. Now the law will be submitted to the Senate for consideration. If approved, it should come into force on July 1, 2023.

The Independent Committee of the Globalworth Board has published its response circular in connection with the unsolicited cash offer by CPI Property Group S.A. and Aroundtown SA at €7.00 per Globalworth share. The Independent Committee continues to believe that the offer significantly undervalues Globalworth, its assets and its prospects.