Total demand on the Budapest office market reached 97,990 sqm in Q2 2021, representing increases of 31% quarter-on-quarter and 11% year-on-year. Renewals still made up the largest share of total leasing activity with 40%, according to the Budapest Research Forum (BRF).

The growth of intermodal connections along the New Silk Road and the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor is creating many new opportunities for warehouse developers in Poland. Upgrade works are continuing apace on the railway lines in Małaszewicze, Bydgoszcz and Pomerania, according to Cresa Poland.

Colliers has issued a new report examining the surge of investment into life sciences and its implications for the property sector across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), identifying landlord and investor opportunity across established and growth markets as the sector is primed to grow significantly. 

Residential investment volumes across the CEE region have been limited and averaged out annually at just over €200 million in the past 5 years. The balance between private, owner-occupied dwellings and those that are for rent in CEE lean towards ownership according to “The Private Rental Sector: Has it found a home in CEE?” report just launched by Colliers in collaboration with Greenberg Traurig and Kinstellar. From the stock of existing developer/investor-owned, multiple-unit PRS schemes, the Czech Republic is ahead, followed by Poland and the remaining countries behind that. 

Total investments in commercial real estate in Slovakia in the first half of 2021 reached €478 million, which almost equalled the volume of investments for the entire previous year.

The sentiment of Hungarian real estate investors is becoming more and more optimistic, which is reflected in their continuously increasing willingness to invest, according to CBRE's survey. Offices are expected to remain the most traded asset type, but demand for alternative investment opportunities has increased significantly. The biggest challenges of the coming year may be pricing asymmetry between sellers and buyers, as well as a lack of stock for sale.

COVID-19 has completely redefined what office means and companies have a lot of thinking to do when it comes to finding the right location for their workforce to work from. Companies are increasingly turning towards flex offices and according to Business Wire, the global flex office space market is expected to grow from $7.97 billion in 2020 to $8.14 billion in 2021 at an annual growth rate of 2.1% before reaching $13.03 billion by 2025.

Experts participating at Portfolio's recent FM & Hybrid Office conference in Budapest discussed the present and future of the office market. The past 18 months have started a multitude of changes as WFH, the sub-leasing of office space, the change in internal configurations, the return to offices, sustainable management and changing tenant requirements have led to a substantial transformation in the lives of office market players. Experts agree that hybrid office use is currently the most likely outcome, as only a few businesses have adopted WFH full-time.

Outlet centres in Europe continue to grow in terms of numbers and retail sales area. As the Wiesbaden-based research institute ecostra reports on the basis of its ongoing market monitoring, 4 outlet centres and a retail sales area of almost 55,000 sqm were added on balance in Europe in the past 12 months

“An Investment in commercial property is attractive to investors who want to invest their money and generate higher yields. Commercial real estate investments are also becoming more popular with private investors to complement the portfolio”, explains Markus Arnold, CEO of Arnold Investments. This trend led to a strong half-year performance in the commercial sector for the investment brokers. With a transaction volume of about €100 million and 90,000 sqm of space brokered, the company declared a healthy six-month balance. “Two thirds of the transactions were concluded in Austria and one third in our other European branches where further deals are imminent. In most of the deals both buyers and sellers are advised by Arnold Investments”, reports Markus Arnold in greater detail.