Colliers International, Automotive Cluster Bulgaria and Pwc conducted a second consecutive survey of the automotive industry in Bulgaria. There are approximately 130 automotive companies in the country, producing components for top international automotive brands. These are predominantly Tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers and include producers, which service other industries as well.

In 2017 approx. 90% of the total investment volumes in the commercial real estate were recorded in retail and HTL on the Croatian market. Most of the investment and development activity came from the investors already present on the market. Newcomers were mostly focused on distressed/value-add or brownfield opportunities in the HTL sector. Retail and HTL will remain the most active sectors in terms of investment and development volumes in 2018, Colliers projects.

Economic sentiment indicators are still pointing towards further expansion in CEE-6 investment volumes in 2018, over and above 2017’s cycle high of €12.9 billion. The current economic and real estate investment cycle might top out in 2019. Colliers International has published its investment outlook for the CEE-6 real estate markets for 2018.

Avestus Capital Partners, an Irish real estate investment and asset manager, sold a landmark office building in the heart of Sofia. Moskovska Business Center changed its owner after several months of negotiations with strong interest from local and foreign investors. The buyer is a Bulgarian company owned by private investors with interests in different fields of business. The transaction price has not been disclosed. Cushman & Wakefield Forton acted as an exclusive advisor to the seller.

2017 was a record breaking year for the Bulgarian office market with almost 200,000 sqm take-up in Sofia. The investment volume has also been the strongest ever with €1 billion invested in commercial property (land acquisitions included) from which income generating assets hold €870 million. Cushman & Wakefield Forton summarised 2017 on the Bulgarian office, retail and industrial markets.

At ca. €12.98 billion, 2017 recorded a 3.3% increase over 2016 (€12.56 billion) and, for the second year running, set a new record transaction volume for the CEE region. JLL has registered continued appetite from investors for the full range of assets across the entire region.

In the next two years Delta Holding plans to invest €600 million in real estate projects in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria.

GTC has signed a €60 million refinancing and investment loan with Raiffeisen Bank International AG for the refinancing of Green Heart, its new office project in Serbia. The office park has already reached a prelease level of 42%.

Greece's Alpha Astika Akinita has sold its Serbian subsidiary Alpha Real Estate to Mat Real Estate for €8.4 million euro. The transaction was carried out on November 28, Alpha Bank’s subsidiary announced on the Athens Stock Exchange.

Strong economic growth, booming tourism and increasing construction activity characterise one of the least well-known markets of the CEE/SEE region. Total office stock in the capital barely exceeds 100,000 sqm, which results in one of the highest rental fees in the region. The situation is, however, about to change as new mixed-use projects of higher quality should increase the pressure on landlords. Stela Dhami, Managing Partner at Colliers International shared us her positive outlook on the Albanian market.