The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak seems to be having a severely negative impact on market sentiment across the CEE region, according to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor. Q1 2020 figures show that both rental and capital value expectations have been downgraded across the region with retail expected to see the sharpest decline and industrial proving to be the most resilient asset class.

The coronavirus outbreak continues to affect people and economies deeply. In the latest online panel organized by Property Forum, three real estate professionals discussed the impacts of the coronavirus crisis on the Bulgarian property market.

There were 5,971 residential property deals made in Hungary in April 2020, according to the latest monthly transaction estimate by real estate group Duna House. The last time the monthly figure was this low was at the low point of the previous crisis in 2013. Meanwhile, weekly data suggest that we are past the trough as the market picked up slightly in the second half of the month.

Rental growth and yield compression eased across Europe’s commercial real estate markets in Q1 2020, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest DNA of Real Estate.

Take-up on the Bratislava office market amounted to 26,000 sqm in Q1 2020 which represents a 58% decrease compared to Q4 2019. The Bratislava Research Forum (JLL, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield and Colliers International) published the office market figures for Q1 2020.

Property Forum’s latest online panel focused on the effects of COVID-19 on alternative asset classes such as student housing and build-to-rent. European investors, regional experts and local developers discussed how the popularity of alternative assets among investors might change once the crisis is over.

In the fourth instalment of a series of reports about COVID-19 and the implications for logistics real estate, Prologis Research looked at customer resilience amid high economic volatility and concluded that diversity of the company client base is a key factor in insulating the portfolio in turbulent market conditions.

Has the Polish real estate market been hit by the coronavirus pandemic? How will it change over the course of several months? Cushman & Wakefield presented a summary of Q1 2020 on the Polish property market, the impact of the pandemic on each sector and economic forecasts for Poland in its new report.

The social distancing in office spaces after COVID-19 involves an immediate action strategy to adapt to the new workplace normality, which is why Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has formed a multidisciplinary team to help employers prepare for the gradual return of their employees in office spaces.

The COVID-19 crisis is expected to accelerate change in global supply chains, manufacturing and online retailing that could benefit the European property market, says Colliers International in its latest “Trends Emerging and Accelerated by the Covid-19 Pandemic” report.