The activity on the Bulgarian real estate market was strongly affected by the COVID-19 crisis, but we saw more resilience for the investment and industrial sectors which registered both an increase during the last year. For 2021, the forecasts are still positive for the investment property market and for the industrial development sector, according to the Sofia City Report H2 2020, released by JLL Romania with the support of IPC Partners Bulgaria.

Budapest’s housing market is becoming more eventful for used and newly-built homes alike as sales have started to pick up in early 2021. As a result, developers sold more than 1,600 new homes between December 2020 and February 2021, nearly half the total number of new homes sold last year. At this rate, total sales figures may even double this year. As usual, most new homes were sold in Budapest's District 13, but the Inner Pest districts have also attracted large numbers of buyers. Data from the Budapest Housing Market Report by Eltinga and Ecorys reveals the number of new homes sold early this year in various locations.

Investors and developers from all over the world are in a race for a slice of Poland's rapidly-developing warehouse market cake. Property Forum takes a look at the new and expanding players that have made headlines in recent months.

The Management Board and the Supervisory Board of Immofinanz have decided to launch a voluntary public takeover offer to acquire a controlling interest pursuant to Section 25a of the Austrian Takeover Act for all outstanding no-par value bearer shares of S Immo not owned by the bidder.

On 12 March, Belgian developer Atenor is launching an issue of 4-year and 6-year green bonds for a minimum amount of, respectively, €15 million and €50 million in the form of a public offer in Belgium open to retail investors and, to a certain extent, qualified investors.

The past year has turned every aspect of our lives upside down, including the way we work and use office space. CEE-based flex office provider New Work has updated its annual research that confronts these issues and shows how our habits to use office as a place of work have changed over the past year. Research shows that flexible office space in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania has increased tenfold and workplace needs now are completely different than ever before, so there should be an office ready to use at every corner.

Organiser Reed MIDEM announced that MIPIM 2021 has been moved from June to September due to continuing health and safety concerns. MIPIM September Edition, a hybrid event, is now scheduled to take place in Cannes, September 7-8, 2021.

Concrete and the cement used as a binder in it have been found one of the major contributors to climate change. Cement production accounted for 7% of all global carbon dioxide emissions in 2018, a ratio unlikely to decrease in coming decades as concrete remains one of the most often used resources on Earth. This has made creating a technology that prevents large quantities of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere when concrete is poured necessary, according to an article by the World Economic Forum.

Property Forum’s upcoming free-to-attend virtual event will aim to provide a property investment outlook for 2021. In the form of a keynote speech and two panel discussions, influential investors, developers and advisors will share their expectations and investment strategies for the second pandemic year.

Warsaw is one of the top ten cities for data centre development in the category of power cost and environmental risk, reveals a new report from Cushman & Wakefield. In addition to Warsaw, the top ten markets for data centres by industrial power cost include Montreal, Reykjavik, Johannesburg, Portland, Vancouver, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Atlanta, and Seattle, with some focusing on the use of renewables, thereby offering the lowest costs in the long term.