According to Savills, the total volume of commercial property investment transactions concluded Q2 2017 in Poland exceeded €1 billion. Investor activity is high, driven mainly by portfolio transactions. 

TREI Real Estate, the property estate arm of the German Tengelmann Group, successfully sold a portfolio of 40 Spar leased supermarkets in Hungary to Erste Asset Management. 

Savills will advise in the recommercialisation process of Retail Park Karpacka in Bielsko-Biała. The investor of the retail scheme is Biuro Inwestycji Kapitałowych S.A.

Mitiska REIM has announced a further strengthening of its footprint in the Romanian market with the successful acquisition of the Alpha Property Development portfolio. The acquisition of the portfolio consisting of 11 income producing retail parks and 3 development opportunities was made on behalf of Mitiska REIM’s institutional fund, First Retail International 2 (FRI 2). 

Apsys has secured the long-term refinancing of Posnania, its flagship project in Poznan, with Berlin Hyp AG, ING Bank Śląski S.A., Société Générale and Deutsche Postbank AG. This refinancing amounting to €260 million in total is one of the largest ever granted in commercial real estate in Central Europe. The project's initial financing during the development phase in 2014 already set a record in this area. 

Echo Polska Properties NV announced results Q1 2017 with distributable earnings 3.2% ahead of budget at €16 million. At period end the portfolio was valued at €1.5 billion with a portfolio of 10 retail and nine office properties and two Warsaw-based retail development sites.

There are currently 192 retail parks in the Czech Republic, moreover 66 retail parks, totalling approximately area of 300 000 sqm, are planned to be constructed. The existing parks account for more than 790 000 sqm of retail space, 752 000 sqm of which is occupied. Hence the vacancy rate stands at 4,8% and is lower than in the previous years. These are the findings of Cushman & Wakefield’s recent detailed market research. The survey results are summed up in a map that is just being released. The map includes all existing and planned retail parks in the Czech Republic. 

After entering the Hungarian market in 2016, M7 Real Estate has chosen the Budapest office of CBRE to manage the entire Hungarian real estate portfolio within the M7 CEREF I Fund. 

A Plaza Centers subsidiary has signed a non-binding letter of intent with an unnamed investment fund regarding the sale of the Torun Plaza shopping and entertainment centre in Poland. The LOI binds the purchaser to a strict timeline for undertaking a comprehensive due diligence process which would result in the transaction being completed by the middle of September 2017.

The residential and office markets have received the lion's share of attention in Budapest recently, but the retail market is also gaining more interest from both tenants and investors. Tourism is booming, domestic purchasing power is growing and the only thing that can hinder growth is the lack of available space and new developments on the market.