It's been a good, strong start to 2022 in Poland's office market, which offers hope that a long-awaited boom in demand is coming after a market slump. Companies have adapted to the new working conditions, and due to the easing of restrictions related to the covid-19 pandemic, they have launched a campaign to encourage employees back into offices. On the other hand, Warsaw and the eight largest regional markets, i.e., Kraków, Wrocław, Tricity, Katowice, Łódź, Poznań, Szczecin, and Lublin, may face a slowdown in new supply in the coming months. AXI IMMO looks at the current trends after Q1 2022 in the office market and analyses what will influence its development in the following months of the year.

The number of completed flats in Slovakia has fallen year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022.  Construction around Bratislava has also been on a downward trend for several quarters. However, three Slovak regions report the opposite trend with a dynamic increase in the number of completed apartments. The recovery can be observed in the number of flats under construction, according to data from the Statistical Office of Slovakia, reality.trend.sk reports.

Immofinanz was informed by its primary shareholder CPI Property Group that CPIPG has decided not to support a proposal to the upcoming ordinary shareholders’ meeting of Immofinanz for the distribution of a dividend for the financial year 2021.

EPP, the largest asset manager of retail real estate in Poland, implemented a sustainable development strategy in 2021. The company aims to conduct its business in a responsible and transparent way while reducing its environmental impact and strengthening its social commitment. Following the strategy, EPP has set targets for the years 2022-2025 and is launching its first report, giving its ESG achievements to date the framework of GRI international reporting and EPRA standards.

The Prague office market in Q1 2022 experienced a further increase in vacancy, across the entire city. However, gross take-up recorded a year-on-year increase of 44% and thus returned to pre-pandemic levels. The increase in prices throughout the city is still felt especially in construction projects, mainly due to rising costs for materials and construction work, reports the Czech branch of Colliers in their regular survey.

The number of completed flats in the Czech Republic increased in the year 2021 by half a percent. A total of 34,581 flats were completed last year. However, the rising figures are due to extensions, while the number of flats completed in detached and apartment buildings fell. In the future, according to statisticians, it can be assumed that new construction will decline for many reasons, writes the Czech News Agency (ČTK) based on the statistics published today by the Czech Statistical Office (CSO).

The Polish warehouse market continues to strengthen its European position. The market’s already high demand was further boosted in Q1 2022 by increased activity in the manufacturing sector.

The Slovak construction market is the smallest among the member countries of the Euroconstruct area. Due to its size, it is significantly more affected by both favourable and unfavourable influences. Overall, the private sector contributes more to construction investment than the public sector. With one exception, civil engineering, where public investment is higher. In residential construction private investment exceeds public. This can be attributed to a widely neglected public rental housing programme in Slovakia, writes Radovan Kostelník from ÚEOS Komercia in his study for the independent organization Euroconstruct that unites research organisations from 19 EU countries.

The demand for office space in Prague increased by 29% quarter-on-quarter for the first quarter of 2021 and by 44% year-on-year. Although the largest transactions of the quarter were lease renegotiations – including Seznam.cz (14,800 sqm) in Palác Křižík in Prague 5 or MSD Czech Republic (6,800 sqm) in Riverview in Prague 5 – the share of newly leased space increased to 58%. The increase in newly leased and pre-leased space indicates confidence and healthy growth of the Prague office market. Despite the fact that leasing activity posted record numbers, the vacancy rate rose by 60 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 8.4%. JLL recorded an increase in vacancy rates in almost all Prague districts, as announced in the last report.

Unlike logistics and retail assets, office buildings received less damage from the war in Ukraine, but it is still impossible to calculate the exact number of losses or destroyed office space. Iryna Nastych summarised the situation in an article prepared by the Ukrainian Real Estate Club for Property Forum.