Retailers and residential developers are driving demand in the land market and the volume of transactions is hampered by uncertainties regarding urban development legislation. 

Following the acquisition of Polish residential developer Budimex Nieruchomości - now renamed Spravia - construction of its first project has begun with its new owner, Czech developer and investor Crestyl. The two phases of the Mińska 69 residential complex in Warsaw will offer nearly four hundred apartments for long-term rent. Based on a previously concluded strategic partnership, they will be bought by Heimstaden Bostad, one of Europe’s leading residential real estate rental companies.

Mint Investments’ residential fund (MINT I. rezidenční podfond SICAV) has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of four apartment buildings in Plzeň-Skvrňany with developer Trigema Real Estate. Construction of the 100 apartments for rent is scheduled to be completed in Q4 2022. The parties did not unveil the transaction price.

Atrium plans to demolish three old shopping mallls in Warsaw - Atrium Reduta, Atrium Targówek and King Cross – and build apartments in these locations. City authorities comply, but the change of the spatial plans may take years.

Asking prices of apartments in Romania were up 2% in August compared to the previous month to €1,508 per sqm, according to property portal Imobiliare.ro. 

AFI Europe has completed the shell of the fifth and final phase of the Tulipa Třebešín residential project which is intended purely for rental housing and completes a large-scale development on a 5-hectare urban brownfield site in Prague 3 - Strašnice. The building will offer a total of 61 residential units with an expected completion date of Q3 2022. The general contractor is Imos Brno. AFI Europe's total investment in Phase 5 will exceed CZK 250 million.

Romanian Impact Developer & Contractor said it plans to develop 1.25 million sqm by 2027, respectively over 10,000 homes in the medium - affordable segment, with an estimated market value of €1.4 billion without VAT. 

A total of 11,304 residential properties were sold in Hungary in August 2021, real estate group Duna House said in its monthly Transaction Estimate. While this is below the monthly average of the February-June period, the January-August total is higher than the 2020 or 2019 figure.

Czech investment group RSJ plans to make it easier for Prague developers to finance the purchase of land for residential projects. Until now, RSJ has only cooperated with developers through shares in their projects but the new RSJ Landbank sub-fund will buy the land instead of the developer, who will take it over only after obtaining all building permits, which in Prague usually takes several years, local daily E15 reports.

Immofinanz is now expanding its real estate offering to also include affordable and sustainable housing. With Top on Stop, single-storey Stop Shop retail parks will be overbuilt to create low-price, resource-friendly housing and to create up to 12,000 new apartments over the medium-term. This represents a further contribution by Immofinanz to the fight against climate change, ground sealing and the explosion in housing costs and opens up new earnings opportunities while, at the same time, optimising risk.