Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted such a unified response from the international business community that has probably not been observed since the creation of the internet. Companies across the world are standing with Ukraine, discontinuing their operations in Russia and taking their part in helping the victims of the war. Real estate companies in CEE have also stepped up to donate money, space and other resources to those in need. We’ve compiled a list of the humanitarian efforts announced by local and global companies. Luckily, the list below is not complete as many new announcements are made every day. We’ll keep updating it.

Low interest rates and high inflation continue to drive demand for investment properties with the residential asset class remaining highly popular. As more and more private individuals, family offices and trusts are diversifying their portfolios, Arnold Investments has greatly expanded their commercial property segment. Investments in critical retail properties, logistics and offices are currently interesting, but hotels are also performing surprisingly well. Multinational brokerage firm Arnold Investments, which supported almost 100 transactions in 2021, summarised key investment market trends in Austria and other regional countries.

JRD Group sold real assets worth CZK 1.054 billion in 2021, increased the capacity of photovoltaic power plants in Hungary to 30 MWp and commissioned a new prototype plasma gasification reactor. The JRD Land and JRD Development divisions were also strengthened, the company announced in its annual report.   

Globalworth’s adjusted normalised EBITDA decreased by 8.1% to €130.2 million in 2021, compared to €141.6 million in 2020, due to a lower net operating income. Net profit significantly improved to €47.5 million (2020: net loss of €46.8 million) due to marginal revaluation losses of €5.7 million in 2021 compared to the €116.2 million revaluation losses in 2020. The company published its unaudited financial results for 2021

Duna House has released its monthly transaction estimate, showing that there were 13,793 residential property transactions in Hungary in February 2022. While this is 5 percent lower than in February 2021, it is 5 percent higher than the results of the same month in 2020.

The crisis caused by rising energy prices worldwide could give a new impetus to the proptech sector which would make the real estate market more efficient through smart digital solutions. In addition to reducing costs, technology increases efficiency, contributes to sustainability and even offers alternative revenue opportunities. ProptechZoOm.com has conducted a comprehensive analysis of the present and future of the Hungarian digital real estate sector by interviewing proptech industry players.

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.