The condition of the housing markets in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia remains good, but high interest rates have reduced the availability of mortgages, which has affected the demand for flats. Poland has broken out of this pattern, where, despite high financing costs, developers are breaking sales records. However, all these countries have one thing in common - the low activity of players in the PRS market, whose offer could be an effective response to the low creditworthiness of buyers. These are just some of the conclusions reached by the participants of the residential panel at CEE Property Forum 2023, which was organised in Vienna in September.

Romania Green Building Council (RoGBC), together with the Association for Promoting Energy Efficiency in Buildings (ROENEF), have announced the launch of the Green Gala Awards 2023, the event that rewards excellence in the field of sustainability of the built environment. The competition aims to award projects implemented as a result of innovative actions and initiatives that add value to both the community and the environment.

SEE is still a land of opportunities but things go too slowly. The size of a single country is too small for international institutional investors who prefer to buy large portfolios rather than individual assets. However, sizeable local players were optimistic about the change in foreign investors’ attitudes at the panel devoted to the investment market in this region at CEE Property Forum 2023 in Vienna.

“In times of change, Expo Real once again confirms how important personal exchange is for the real estate industry”, says Markus Arnold, CEO and sole owner of Arnold Investments. This is also the reason why the company is on site with an international team from ten countries and an unchanged large exhibition stand.

Savills has prepared an overview of how the real estate market should react to the changing age structure of the global population. This study carried out as part of Savills Impacts programme, is about the prediction of residential supply and related services and hybrid working models. The fact that many Western countries are some of the fastest ‘ageing’ in the world isn’t news. In 10 years' time, the largest proportion of the Czech Republic’s population will be between 50 and 59 years old. Other countries in CEE are in a similar position. In Germany, Austria, Italy or France, the dominant age group will be 60 to 69. Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, many African nations are seeing increases in their youthful populations. 

Global real estate - one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions - should become net-zero in less than three decades. With as much as 80% of the predicted building stock for 2050 already in existence today, this best illustrates the scale of the challenge. Meanwhile, the commercial real estate market has not, as yet, officially acknowledged either the costs of necessary property upgrades or the costs of delaying or not taking any action. At the same time, due to a lack of market standards, benchmarks and a system of data collection, valuers can hardly factor ESG risks in property valuations. This impasse has significantly increased the risk of a carbon bubble, says Cushman & Wakefield. 

The interest rate side will be a definitive factor for investments going forward, while investors that have a strong equity base will have more opportunities to snap projects next year, concluded speakers in the opening panel of CEE Property Forum 2023, held in Vienna.

There are currently more than 56,000 sqm of office space in Prague available for immediate occupation. These are mainly office spaces that have been vacated by their previous tenants due to relocation to new premises or downsizing because of the transition to a hybrid office model. Companies that want to get up and running quickly in their new offices and make substantial savings on the capital costs required for fit-out have plenty to choose from. This secondary supply is a good complement to the shortage of available office space in new buildings that Prague is currently facing, according to the Cushman & Wakefield report.

CTP is hosting its 2023 Capital Markets Day in Brno, Czech Republic, followed by asset tours visiting CTParks in the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary. The company also announced FY-2024 guidance and reaffirmed that it's on track to reach 20 million sqm of GLA before the end of the decade

Wing has published its second ESG report, providing information about its environmental, social, and governance efforts, as well as its goals, the measures it has taken and the results it has achieved in 2022. The report has been prepared in accordance with the company’s first comprehensive ESG strategy, which will be finalised soon.