2022 saw an almost complete recovery of Croatia’s tourism industry with only 2% fewer overnight stays than in 2019. Hotels were almost at full capacity (98% open). In the summer season, hotels achieved 5% higher revenues than in 2019, primarily through an increase in occupancy of 25% (to 79%) compared to the 2021 season, which means a 9% gap compared to the occupancy of 2019, CBS International, part of Cushman & Wakefield Group reports..

The gross sales turnover of a total of 1,800 shops located on the 30 SES Spar European Shopping Center sites in Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic continued to grow in the past year. With sales up 18.5% and a €3.1 billion turnover compared to 2021, SES enjoyed a record year in terms of development since its inception in 2007. In 2022, SES invested in numerous sustainable measures such as the large-scale installation of photovoltaic systems and the ongoing interim expansion of e-charging stations, currently amounting to 175 charging points coupled with extensive LED retrofitting.

Situated in the southwestern city of Sandanski, Kaufland’s first Bulgarian retail park spans over 5,000 sqm. The German retail chain invested over BGN 2 million  ( €1 million) in the outdoor retail area, the company said in a press release.

Bulgarian Real Estate Fund (BREF) officially opened the Synergy Tower business building in Sofia, economy.bg reports. The investment is around €40 million. The first tenants of the building are Robert Bosch Bulgaria, Software AG, and INSAIT (Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology).

CBRE South Eastern Europe provided advisory services to BIG CEE in the process of purchasing the Capital Plaza complex in Podgorica. 

With the acquisition of Sofia Office Center, strategically located on the Tsarigradsko Shose – the city’s largest boulevard, international real estate investor Everty is expanding towards Sofia’s southeastern quadrant.

Properties in Sofia rank relatively cheap compared to other major cities in Europe. The Bulgarian capital is taking the last place in rankings by average price and the market has opportunities to grow. The opinion was expressed by Thomas Stanishev, Director of Galardo Real Estate, in an interview for the show "Club Investor'' of Bloomberg TV Bulgaria  

The total transaction volume for last year in Belgrade's residential market was €2.67 billion, which represents an increase of around 28% compared to the overall amount of €2.06 billion which was registered in the year 2021. This also represents the largest year-on-year increase in recent years, which was caused by the rise in transactions in Q2 when the Ukrainian war broke out, and the rise in transactions in Q4 when it became evident that rents in Belgrade doubled in certain parts of the city as a result of the influx of population from Ukraine and Russia, real estate agency Cordon reports.

In March 2023, the Delta Planet Mall retail centre, located in Varna, Bulgaria, inaugurated an innovative photovoltaic solar installation. The investment of nearly €500,000 (BGN 1 million) covers the construction of 1,029 solar panels with a total capacity of 556 kW.

After the start of the pandemic in 2020, and its surge in 2021, the past 12 months have brought renewed market activity in an attempt to offset the previous slowdown. The retail sector, construction, and the IT sector managed to avoid the recession and maintain their position as the least affected industries by the pandemic. The investment market in Bulgaria for the second half of 2022 recorded twice as high activity in terms of volume as in H1 2022, according to the Sofia City Report by JLL with the support of IPC Partners Bulgaria and Avalant. Foreign investors are less cautious to expand to unload their cash given the limited amount of opportunities.