Hungarian retail sales and turnover continue to show healthy growth, buoyed by the abolition of the Sunday closing law after barely one year in effect. Retailer demand is unbroken but remains pressed by the lack of available supply resulting in upward pressure on rents. Fashion retailers remained the most active in H1 2016, followed by the footwear and F&B segments which both expanded significantly, according to the latest Retail Market View published by CBRE.

This year has witnessed new players entering Central and Eastern European markets which, when combined with investments from the region's traditional players, has further increased CEE investment activity. Colliers, Skanska and JLL has released a joint report that analyses the region’s potential as an investment location.

The European industrial and logistics investment market experienced a record breaking H1 investment volume this year, despite a slower Q2. In Hungary, the vacancy rate slipped to 6.6%, and developers’ activity is on the rise according to the latest research data of CBRE.

Last year there has been a significant increase of interest from investors for logistics properties and properties for development, which signals the emergence of the automotive and e-commerce industry as well as the start of large-scale real estate developments – says DLA Piper’s annual Hungarian Real Estate Intelligence Report. According to DLA Piper, the increased acquisition activity from developers will translate into new commercial assets being introduced into the market around 2017 Q4 and 2018 Q1.

The operating results recorded by Immofinanz were stable in year-on-year comparison at EUR 45.3 million in the first quarter of the abbreviated 2016 financial year (Q1 2015/16: EUR 46.9 million). Rental income fell from EUR 82.2 million to EUR 76.8 million due to temporary rent reductions in Moscow and the planned sale of properties. 

At the end of H1 2016, Poland’s office stock totalled 8.7 million sqm. Warsaw remains the largest office market with Kraków, Wrocław and Tricity becoming major regional office hubs. Nearly 572,000 sqm of modern office space was delivered onto the Polish market in H1 2016, setting a new semi-annual record. Cushman & Wakefield its newest report, Property Times: Office Market In A Growth Phase.

Airports have become an important part of daily life and they have proven to be essential for the development of cities and regions. Good and fast connections are key parts of doing business and the lack of efficient infrastructure can hinder the economic growth of entire regions. Airports in Central and Eastern Europe have a long way to go until they can secure their place on the global map, but they can easily improve their position within the region by increasing their competitiveness. One of the key ingredients of success is establishing adequate transport links.

Echo Investment has published its H1 2016 results. The Group had the revenue of PLN 280.5 mln in H1 2016 (compared to PLN 273.8 mln in H1 2015), a gross sales profit of PLN 145.4 mln (compared to PLN 135 mln), an operating profit of PLN 404 mln (compared to PLN 31.3 mln) and a net profit of PLN 299 mln (compared to PLN 22.7 mln).

In H1 2016, total modern retail stock in Poland rose to more than 13.5 million sqm GLA. The key trends include new shopping centre and retail park openings in cities below 100,000 inhabitants and the growth of the outlet centre sector in agglomerations with 200,000–400,000 inhabitants. Cushman & Wakefield has released its data on the Polish retail market in H1 2016 in its report Property Times: Increased market competition calls for a quick response.

Romania and Hungary are seeing new capital flowing into their respective commercial real estate markets as a consequence of a significant yield spread between Western and Eastern Europe. Skanska has relased a new report, focuing on investment opportunities in the CEE region.