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.

The Czech Republic made it to the Top 20 countries ranked by the most expensive retail street for the second time in Cushman & Wakefield’s annual Main Streets Across the World 2019 chart. It climbed to No.18 thanks to Na Příkopě, a street where the prime rental value is €235 per sqm per month. The Czech Republic is the only country in the Central and Eastern European region to make it to the Top 20 this year (it appeared in the chart last year for the first time ever), confirming its reigning position on the Central European market.

Sales numbers for new housing units in Warsaw in the first three quarters of 2019 amounted to 17,500, which was an increase of 7% y-o-y. In 7 out of 18 districts in the capital, the average prices of units on offer exceeded €2,500 (PLN 11,000) per sqm, according to JLL.

The Romanian real estate market continued to show a positive evolution, and in the third quarter of 2019, the positive trend applied to all three leasing sectors, according to CBRE Research data. In the first nine months of the year, approximately 290,000 sqm were leased on the office segment, the main source of the demand being the IT&C companies and the financial industry, while on the retail market a number of 11 new brands chose to enter in Romania, among which Victoria's Secret and Burger King, advised by CBRE.

According to the new CEE research from Colliers International, which looks at entertainment sector in 13 CEE countries, the leisure offer in shopping centres is dominated by multiplex cinemas and fitness clubs, but there are also other concepts that are being added to the mix. Czech consumers spend the most on recreation and culture, the average is €38.23/month. Key findings of the report include the following.

The restaurants and cafes sector (Food & Beverage) in Romania has been constantly growing during the last few years as a result of a robust increase in wages and purchasing power on one hand and also due to the larger number of foreigners that visit Romania for business or leisure. This evolution is also reflected in an increasingly fierce competition of concepts, operators seeking to attract their customers through design and memorable dining experience.

A Europe-wide proliferation of new eating and drinking concepts is driving demand for real estate, according to new research published by Colliers International.

Commercial property investment activity exceeded €8 billion across Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania in the first three quarters of 2019, 54% above the five year average, according to Savills latest research report. Investment turnover in CEE has been rising steadily since 2013, by 24% per annum on average, reflecting increasing investor confidence in the region, underpinned by above EU average economic expansion, falling unemployment and growing consumerism.