Shopping malls need to boost their leisure propositions, while retailers must enhance their omnichannel strategies, mentioned speakers during the retail panel of SEE Property Forum 2021, Property Forum's annual event in Bucharest. 

Occupancy rates in Prague’s hotels were 50% higher during the summer holidays this year in comparison with last July and August, propelling Prague upwards in the European cities’ chart. Room rates exceeded €64 in the summer, also an improvement over last year. Many hotels worked with an operating profit and the growing number of reservations is also a positive sign. Autumn traditionally brings a drop in tourism and thus in performance – September occupancy rates are still comparable with summer rates and prices are even higher, but there are concerns about another wave of the pandemic and the potential operating restrictions. However, the improved performance in the summer has confirmed again that Prague’s hospitality market has been consistently sought after and popular, and its performance is hindered mostly by external and temporary factors.

Rising construction costs and strong demand from investors are at play, of course, but the picture is a lot more complicated than that. Players of the dynamically growing private rental sector (PRS) discussed market trends at Living Investment Forum 2021, Property Forum's annual event in Warsaw. 

Banks loans dominate the financing market for property development, but the stock exchange, EU funds and state aid are emerging instruments, suggested speakers during the lenders vs borrowers panel of SEE Property Forum 2021, Property Forum's annual event in Bucharest.   

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.