In H2 2019, gross take-up on the Brno office market reached 54,600 sqm (up by 303% y-o-y), whereas in Ostrava gross take-up reached 4,100 sqm, representing a y-o-y decrease of 41%. The Regional Research forum announced the Brno and Ostrava office market figures for H2 2019.

According to JLL, CEE's real estate investment volume for 2019 hit €14.0 billion. Poland registered over 55% of this total (€7.7 billion) and was followed by the Czech Republic (€3.1 billion), Hungary (€1.7 billion), Slovakia (approx. €770 million), and Romania (approx. €683 million).

Business confidence among Polish construction companies tumbled early this year, with the heaviest burden, as perceived by the enterprises, coming from labour costs and tax levies. Decline in confidence is chiefly due to such factors as an over 15% increase in the minimum wage and a 10% hike in social insurance contributions faced by sole traders operating in the construction industry. On top of that, large construction businesses are required to conduct Employee Capital Schemes (PPK) or the alternative solution of Employee Pensions Schemes (PPE).

Last year saw excellent results in the office sector in Poland. Demand was a record breaking 1.6 million sqm. Total stock exceeded 11 million sqm with regional markets accounting for 5.6 million sqm and outperforming Warsaw for the first time. JLL summarised the situation on the Polish office market at the end of 2019.

Occupier demand for office space in Warsaw remained robust, with 878,000 sqm transacted in 2019, up by 2% on the peak year 2018. Cushman & Wakefield presented a summary of 2019 on the Warsaw office market.

Last year brought yet another record on the Polish investment market. Throughout 2019, the total transaction volume amounted to €7.8 billion which is higher 2018’s figure of €7.2 billion). Thus, Poland has once again proved that it is an attractive and increasingly more liquid market, according to Avison Young’s latest investment market report.

At the end of 2019, Poland’s total industrial stock topped 18.6 million sqm, with warehouse supply hitting a record high of 2.72 million sqm in the past 12 months. Compared to the previous year, warehouse space availability improved significantly on most of the nation’s regional markets. Cushman & Wakefield presents a summary of the Polish industrial market.

Student housing continued its record growth last year, booking over €9bn in international transactions, excluding the US. As student numbers are growing faster than supply, the asset class remains a top-4 sector prospect for investments in 2020, as shown by a recent study carried out by global research specialist Bonard.

Christie & Co recently launched their new report focusing on the hostel markets in Vienna, Prague and Budapest. The report shows an overview of the business model itself, key characteristics, the evolution of the hostel concept and gives a deeper insight of the mentioned markets: Vienna, Prague and Budapest, in terms of demand, supply and especially branded supply.

Overall in 2019, total gross take-up on the Prague office market reached 439,000 sqm, representing a decrease of 18% in year-on-year comparison. The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for Q4 2019.