The pace of yield compression decelerated across Europe’s commercial real estate markets in the first quarter of 2019, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest DNA of Real Estate report.

The first quarter of 2019 proved to be a very good one for the industrial sector in Poland - the gross take-up exceeded 800,000 sqm with more than 620,000 sqm being delivered to the market, and approx. two million sqm under construction. JLL summarized the situation on the Polish industrial market at the end of Q1 2019.

The phenomenal growth of the ‘flex’ sector is set to continue apace in years to come, with flexible workspace in EMEA grow by over 50% by 2022 and the number of office workers occupying this space growing to 750,000 across the region. That’s according to global real estate advisor, Colliers International, which recently released its Flexible Workspace Outlook Report 2019.

In the first quarter of 2019, leasing activity hit 140,100 sqm on the Warsaw office market, of which more than 101,000 was transacted under new deals and expansions. Cushman & Wakefield summarised the Warsaw office market in Q1 2019.

Poland's office market in Q1 2019 saw office supply growing, vacancy rates dropping comparing to the last year, and demand predominantly being driven by IT, services and manufacturing. Advisory firm JLL summarised the situation on the Polish office market at the end of Q1 2019.

According to the RICS Global Commercial Property Monitor (GCPM), 38% of respondents reported that climate risks are not important or irrelevant for investors. In addition, according to the Global Construction Survey (GCM), over a third, (36%) of respondents believe that though compared to two years ago, investor focus has shifted towards building designs that are energy efficient and carbon neutral, it is only limited to a few niche investors.

In the first quarter of this year, residential developers on the six major markets in Poland sold 16,500 new flats, repeating the result attained in Q4 2018. During this same period, a similar number, 16,800 units, were put up for sale. Poznań and Łódź are experiencing a late boom, as sales on these markets reached record highs in Q1 2019, according to JLL’s latest report.

Cushman & Wakefield has published new research assessing 48 of the most suitable locations for global manufacturers to expand or relocate their operations in EMEA, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. While manufacturers’ individual requirements will vary, China performs strongly thanks to increasing government investment in the adoption of technology, while the United States is most attractive for those seeking to minimise exposure to economic and political threats, followed by Canada and the Czech Republic. Considering basic criteria the Czech Republic is fifth globally and first in Europe.

PropTech Romania which is the first Romanian innovation platform designed for the real estate market, hosted the first European real estate hackathon in Bucharest on 12 and 13 April 2019.

During Q1 2019, gross take-up, which includes renegotiations, reached 384,700 sqm of the Czech industrial market, showing an increase of 24% over Q4 2018 figures. The Industrial Research Forum announced the final industrial market figures for Q1 2019.