Driven by large-scale mergers and acquisitions, European multifamily investment volumes in the 12 countries analysed reached approximately €92.3 billion in 2021, a 79% increase year-on-year and a 120% increase on the past five-year average, Savills announces. 

Record levels of investment poured into European residential assets last year, with spending nearly equal to that of office investment, Knight Frank reports. Just shy of €100 billion of assets were traded in the European residential investment sector in 2021, up 60% on 2020, analysis of data from RCA shows.

Earlier this week, Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib and Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski visited the Ukrainian capital and invited Kyiv to join the Pact of Free Cities. Founded in 2019 by the mayors of Bratislava, Budapest, Warsaw, and Prague, the pact aims to strengthen the values of freedom, dignity, democracy, and the rule of law.

Colliers published a survey of the Czech commercial real estate investment market for Q4 2021. It shows that the volume of investments fell for the second year in a row in 2021, although sales were 8 percent higher year-on-year in the last quarter. The largest investment in Q4 was the sale of the Generali headquarters in Prague with an area of 36,000 sqm.

CPI Property Group has published unaudited profit and credit estimates for the financial year ended 31 December 2021. While publication of the audited annual financial report is scheduled for 31 March 2022, the company is proceeding with this unaudited disclosure so that investors and stakeholders are updated about the Group’s performance.

After a very successful 2021, the Polish warehouse market continues to power ahead. In addition to the big five, new well-connected locations are coming up on developers’ radars. The growth of e-commerce continues to drive the construction of greener and more employee-friendly buildings. Challenges facing the market however include rising development costs, shrinking land banks and a dearth of warehouse workers. Newmark Polska asked the most active developers for their market projections.

In the past twelve months, retail properties have tried to make up for the challenges faced in the first year of the pandemic. Summarizing 2021 for the modern retail space sector, experts from BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland pointed to several key phenomena regarding the sector, including: a quick return of shoppers to retail facilities, retail parks standing becoming stronger, e-commerce continuing the way of the stable growth, as well as the increasingly important role of sustainable development and ESG policy.

While in H2 2021, gross take-up on the Brno office market reached 38,100 sqm, which represents a 57% increase in comparison to H1 2021 and a 50% increase y-o-y, Ostrava office market gross take-up in the same time reached 1,600 sqm, representing a drop of 91% compared to H1 2021 and staying stable in a y-o-y comparison. The Regional Research Forum announced the Brno and Ostrava office market figures for H2 2021.

Konica Minolta IT Solutions has extended its popular software package for real estate and investment companies which was showcased at Prague Property Forum 2021. Customers using this package based on Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, appreciate various smart features and the common base solution developed by Konica Minolta ITS, which ensures a smooth flow of information between all the departments. If you prefer, you can watch a short video overviewing the package or detailed videos for each module here.

Czech businessman Radovan Vítek has amassed a fortune estimated at around €4.1 billion while increasing his influence in the European property sector. Vítek holds firm control of CPI Property Group, the company he founded with assets topping €11 billion and has gradually built majority stakes in Globalworth and Immofinanz, both competing groups in Central and Eastern Europe. By purchasing controlling participations in these companies, Vítek could build his property investment empire across CEE to the tune of around €20 billion and 7 million sqm of developed space, covering every country and asset class in the region. This story is a prime example of the rise and strength of local capital in CEE, in addition to the gradual decline of influence held by Austrian companies over the region.