The performance of sectors relevant to the commercial real estate market improved in the second quarter of 2021, while the positive impact of growth on the real estate market fell short of that observed in previous cycles, partly due to the direct impact of the pandemic (lasting drop in tourism) and partly to uncertainties resulting from the trends accelerated by the pandemic (penetration of home office and e-commerce), the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) said in its latest Commercial Real Estate Market Report. In addition to an overview of the office, warehouse, hotel and retail markets, the report also reveals that the ratio of domestic investors in all property deals was nearly 80%, even higher than in the especially active year of 2019.

Real estate group Duna House has released its monthly Transaction Estimate and mortgage forecast, showing that there were 11,526 residential property transactions in Hungary in October 2021, down 2.4% over September, and also below the October prints of the previous years. This marks a downturn after a pickup in August and September, but the number of transactions is still expected to exceed 150,000 in 2021.

Croatia’s remarkable recovery from the brutal impact that the COVID-19 epidemic had on the country in 2020 is, like its construction boom, both real and smoke and mirrors, both temporary and long-term, according to Michael Glazer (SEE Regional Advisors) and Tatjana Halapija (Nada Projekt), the Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association’s members in Croatia.

Prices for new homes will grow as developers are facing higher construction costs and deal with surging inflation, mentioned speakers during the residential market panel of SEE Property Forum 2021, Property Forum's annual event in Bucharest.

In Q3, the commercial real estate investment market revived and was accompanied by a much greater optimism than during the previous periods of 2021. Logistics and industrial space are still the leaders among the sectors. An important event was again the change of ownership of the Warsaw Metropolitan office building, the value of which exceeded PLN 1 billion

Property Forum is happy to join New Work as an info partner for its upcoming webinar on 27 October where CEO and Founder Hubert Abt will walk participants through the trends driving the dynamic flex office market in Europe and share how operators or investors can profit from its growth.

The figures describing the performance of shopping centres that Cushman & Wakefield has available (primarily for small to medium-sized centres in Czech regions) show a positive trend. Following the full reopening of shops in shopping centres this May and June, both revenue and footfall were higher than the figures from the same period last year and the trend carried over to the summer holidays. Compared with 2020, July revenue grew by 3% and August revenue by 11%. Compared with the pre-crisis year 2019, July revenue was 2% lower, but in August it was almost 7% higher.

The shortage of skilled workers and engineers is the biggest obstacle to the business activities of design and construction enterprises, a market survey of the National Federation of Hungarian Building Contractors (ÉVOSZ) finds. While the number of people employed in the construction industry is growing each year, the number of vacancies is dropping rapidly, indicating that the labour supply is unable to keep pace with the development of the industry. The federation has therefore initiated a programme to call industry professionals working abroad home.

Prime headline rents have increased slightly to a new level of €5.20 sqm/month in the Czech Republic and €5.50 sqm/month in the Greater Prague region during Q3 2021. The Industrial Research Forum published its fresh industrial market figures.

The commercial real estate market, together with many other economic areas, after being impacted heavily by the Covid pandemic, is undergoing recovery. These positive indicators are also mirrored in the retail real estate sector. Recent figures indicate that retail parks and convenience centres are recovering strongly as are discount shops, while large shopping centres are reporting increasing footfall levels, optimistic economic outlook; these are the key highlights from Q3 of the year. The analysis of the retail real estate sector was prepared by experts from BNP Paribas Real Estate.