Fears that offices will no longer be needed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak are overblown, and investors should keep an eye out for pricing opportunities, according to Savills Investment Management.

CEE’s highly skilled and lower cost workforce, its well-established track record and competitiveness in industrial production coupled with the fact that the region has enabled manufacturers to generate higher levels of economic output at disproportionately lower operating costs is a compelling case for continued FDI into the region, according to Colliers International.

According to Savills, the average spread between prime industrial and prime shopping centre yields across mainland Europe has converged for the first time in its historic series as demand for logistics and soars as a result of increased levels in e-commerce.

Pandemic-related economic and social restrictions have given rise to multiple questions on the office market. Will the demand for office space remain unabated? Will office projects underway be delivered on time? Cresa has reviewed pre-let levels and the progress of office projects currently under construction in Warsaw.

As the manufacturing sector begins to reopen around the world, new trends are emerging in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research by Cushman & Wakefield.

The construction industry in most of Southeastern Europe will be bruised by the pandemic effects this year, causing a drop in construction outputs. The two exceptions are Croatia and Bulgaria where civil engineering could compensate for the losses elsewhere. Already in 2021, we are likely to see positive growth rates in all 5 countries, according to the Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association

Cushman & Wakefield’s reports on the Chinese market have shed light on how the retail sector and consumers responded to challenges facing them in the new reality. What lessons should the Polish retail sector learn from them? Daniel Stańczuk, Marketing & PR Senior Communications Specialist, Asset Services, at Cushman & Wakefield wrote about trends on the Polish market and ways of tailoring strategies to the new reality.

The Czech Republic came within the top ten countries around the world again this year in Cushman & Wakefield’s annual ranking based on the criteria such as operating costs including labour and the rate of economic and political risk. The country has regularly ranked among the best destination for manufacturers seeking to locate their operations since 2016 when it was included in the chart for the first time. The ability to bounce back after the coronavirus crisis was rated for the first time this year and the Czech Republic succeeded in this respect as well.

Poland’s real estate investment volume for the first half of 2020 has reached €2.9 billion which is the second-best H1 result in history. €710 million was invested in offices alone during the “pandemic quarter” with the industrial sector registering its best-ever H1 result. JLL analysed H1 2020 real estate investment transactions in Poland.  

Warsaw is among the top 10 European cities for the fintech sector. According to Savills, which prepared the ranking, the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the digitalisation of the banking sector and Poland provides a favourable environment for fintechs to expand.