Savills has strengthened its Investment team with a promotion and a new appointment. Fraser Watson has been promoted to the role of Head of Investment for the Czech Republic & Slovakia and Hugo Fischer has joined the Investment team as an Associate.

Savills has promoted Kamil Kowa to Managing Director of Savills Poland. In his new role, Kowa will work closely with Stuart Jordan, CEO of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) at Savills to help clients operating in or looking to enter the Polish real estate market.

2024 will be a challenging year for many companies in the CEE real estate sector that will have to refinance their loans at new, increased costs. Those that need to redeem their corporate bonds in the coming quarters may also have a lot of problems.

Savills recorded 40 transactions closed in 2023 in the Czech commercial real estate sector with a total investment volume of €1.2 billion. Investment volume in 2023 was down 32% in comparison to 2022. 31% of investment transactions in 2023 were closed in Prague.

Savills has been appointed as property manager for Mogilska 35 Office in Kraków. The six-floor office building is one of the latest office projects delivered in southern Poland by Warimpex.

Average office occupancy rates across eight major European markets have risen in the last six months from 55% to 57%, says Savills, however on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the average is 64% and 62% respectively, closer to the pre-pandemic rate of circa. 70%.

According to the "Ski Report" published by Savills for the eighteenth time this year, on average, across the Savills Ski Prime Price League table of the top twenty resorts, prices for prime residential property fell by approximately -4% for the year. However, this fall is from record levels, after prices rose more than 20% in the 2021/22 season. While down slightly from their 2022 highs, values remain on average 20% above 2021 levels and 41% above pre-pandemic prices. 

Savills has been appointed as property manager for the Lakeside office complex, developed by Atenor in Warsaw’s Mokotów district.

Savills has negotiated a pre-lease of warehouse space for Flosman, a Czech company engaged in the retail and wholesale of food and pharmaceuticals. The lease covers 8,000 sqm of warehouse and almost 600 sqm of office space in the CSPPark Planá NL project (in Southern Bohemia). The hall is planned to be operational in the third quarter of 2024. 

Savills has presented a preliminary summary of 2023 and predicted key trends going forward. The commercial property market in Poland is expected to see a rebound in investor, developer and tenant activity in the near future against the backdrop of continued global uncertainty and the climate crisis.