The coronavirus crisis has led to a significant shift in the investment strategies of institutional real estate investors. “Lower risk, lower return” is the mantra of the moment. 58% of the 150 professional investors in Germany, France and the UK surveyed by Union Investment for its investment climate study are currently pursuing such a strategy. The figure was just 35% prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. The shift is especially pronounced in the UK, where security is the main investment motive for 79% of those surveyed. Before the pandemic, it was 50%. Nonetheless, there is no general reluctance to invest. Only five% of the European investors in the survey intend to avoid all investment in real estate in the current phase.

The first half of this year saw an absolute record-breaking result in the history of the Polish investment market in the warehouse segment. For the office sector, it was the second-best six months in history in terms of transaction value. Despite the turmoil caused by COVID-19, total transaction volume in the commercial real estate sector in Poland in the first half of this year was even higher than the excellent result from the same period in 2019, according to Walter Herz.

Manufacturers of concrete products in Poland will be able to generate a little over PLN 9bn in revenue in 2019 in spite of slower construction activity, according to the findings presented in the latest report by research company Spectis.

This October, global proptech portal Unissu is launching the second edition of Connect, the global real estate equivalent of TED Talks. With the aim of providing 300+ free-to-view videos from worldwide experts on the future of real estate and the rise of technology in the sector, the event will be simultaneously hosted in 30+ cities globally. Property Forum will be the co-organizer of two recording sessions in Central & Eastern Europe: one in Vienna and one in Budapest.

GTC’s rental and service revenues decreased by €3 million to €79 million in H1 2020. The decrease mainly resulted from a decrease in income of approximately €8 million due to rent relief imposed by governments during the lockdown of shopping malls and rent concessions and discounts provided by the Group to the retail tenants across the portfolio due to the COVID-19 outbreak combined with a decrease on rental revenues following the sale of GTC White House in the third quarter of 2019 and Neptun Office Center in the fourth quarter of 2019 of €3 million. The decrease was partially offset by an increase in the rental revenues due to completion of Ada Mall, Green Heart, ABC I and Matrix A.

New research from Cushman & Wakefield has identified Berlin, Reykjavik, Oslo, Warsaw, Zurich, Milan, Vienna, Madrid and Prague as emerging hotspots for data centre development in Europe. The European data centre market has long been dominated by the ‘FLAP-D’ markets of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin, cities with their own deep business and financial sectors to serve. While these markets are still critical to the data centre ecosystem as entry points - and with over 500 MW of construction underway among them - interest in the FLAP-D markets is now competing with physical limitations including a lack of energy to power the centres, limited stock and a need to be closer to regional users.

In the first half of 2020, the supply of modern class A, B and C office space in Sofia increased by 1%, reaching 2,315,600 sqm, according to Colliers International. The recently completed building 3 of Garitage Park accounted for much of the growth in the office stock.

Romania's real estate investment volume amounted to approx. €395 million in the first six months of 2020, a value 17% higher than the same period of the previous year, according to CBRE. Office buildings were the properties most sought after by investors, accounting for 88% of the volume traded and other similar projects are available for sale, totaling over €350 million.

The first half of the “pandemic year” was most difficult for retail players, considering the lockdown during the emergency state, but the recovery up until July has been better than most market participants were initially expecting, according to Colliers International’s market report for the first semester of 2020. In the industrial & logistics area, it has been business as usual during the pandemic, with some seeing big spikes in activity, but a significant pipeline of speculative developments and a competitive market are tilting the balance in favour or tenants.

Total real estate investment volume in Slovakia in H1 2020 reached €432 million which represents a 66% increase on the same period last year, according to data by CBRE. The volume was spread among ten transactions, with the average value of the deals amounting to €43 million, compared to €27 million last year.