There’s a lot of capital targeting real estate in Central & Eastern Europe but finding the right investment product remains a huge challenge. Panellists of the CEE investment panel at Portfolio Property Investment Forum 2019 in Budapest discussed the risks investors in the region need to keep in mind.

In the first three quarters of 2019, the regional city investment volume reached €1.06 billion, matching the level recorded in the whole of last year. Cushman & Wakefield forecast this year’s total volume to hit €1.3–1.5bn, 25-40% above the equivalent level in 2018. Prime office yields stand at 5.50%–6.00% in Krakow and Wrocław, and at 6.75–7.25% in Gdansk, Poznań, Katowice and Łódź.

In the past five years, Colliers International has performed valuation for a total of over 500,000 commercial and residential properties worth €40 billion in Romania. The most complex and comprehensive appraising process in Colliers International’s portfolio was for BCR Palace on University Square in Bucharest.

Global commercial real estate leaders are optimistic about the industry’s prospects over the coming year, despite global economic volatility, according to Deloitte 2020 Commercial Real Estate Outlook. 76 percent of respondents expect a positive evolution of the industry in the next period. The survey shows that the tenant experience has become a top priority for most commercial real estate leaders, with a focus on investment in new technologies.

New research from Cushman & Wakefield reveals the last link of the e-commerce supply chain can account for 50% or more of total supply chain spend.

The UK is the 5th or 6th biggest export destination for both Romania and the country’s major trading partners – Germany, Italy and France. Thus, a negative Brexit scenario would have significant second-round effects via Romania’s other trading partners which do a significant amount of business with the UK. According to Colliers International’s estimates, the stock of modern industrial space is still expected to grow considerably in the next three years (by 2023).

In the third quarter of 2019, Łódź’s total office stock reached almost 518,000 sqm, surpassing the long-awaited half a million sqm mark, says Cresa Poland in its latest report.

The aggregate net profit of the 30 largest commercial property developers in Poland hit an all-time high of €230 million (PLN 985 million)  in 2018, which translated into a net profit margin of 25%. The latest data from the investment transaction market and property developers’ interim financial statements indicate that 2019 can be as good a year as 2018 was for the industry in terms of profitability.

The Polish industrial market remains in very good health, with warehouse supply hitting a record high and robust occupier demand. Cushman & Wakefield summarised the third quarter of 2019 on the industrial market in Poland in its latest report.

Poland’s total retail stock topped 15 million sqm at the end of Q3 2019. The high shopping centre density rate in the country’s large cities has shifted developer interest towards less saturated markets of smaller cities and other retail formats such as mixed-use schemes, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Q3 2019 retail report.