The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak seems to be having a severely negative impact on market sentiment across the CEE region, according to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor. Q1 2020 figures show that both rental and capital value expectations have been downgraded across the region with retail expected to see the sharpest decline and industrial proving to be the most resilient asset class.

In its latest global sentiment survey among its researchers around the world of the impact of Covid-19, Savills says that the outlook has improved slightly, with 19% of countries reporting a severe negative impact on their real estate markets due to the pandemic – an improvement compared to 29% in its previous survey conducted on 31st March - and 74% describing a moderate negative impact (opposed to 67% at end of March).

70% of office building managers confirmed the adverse effects of the current restrictions on contract negotiations in a survey conducted by Walter Herz. The consulting company analysed how companies in Poland are coping with the current situation on the office market and what effects does home office bring. 

Getting a clearer picture of market participants’ expectations is more important than ever in these turbulent times. That’s why Property Forum and RICS launched a survey on the potential implications of the COVID-19 crisis on real estate markets in CEE. Nearly 100 people filled out our questionnaire. Here are the results.

Investors still show interest for real estate acquisitions Romania, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey conducted by Colliers International among more than 60 real estate companies.

Saving money and time spent in traffic are the main advantages of working from home, while the main disadvantages are the lack of direct socialization with colleagues and the difficulty in separating professional from personal time, according to a survey conducted by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Getting a clearer picture of market participants’ expectations is more important than ever in these turbulent times.  Please help us by filling out our market sentiment survey on the potential implications of the COVID-19 crisis on real estate markets in CEE.

March was the twelfth consecutive month to see decreases in confidence in the construction sector. The seasonally-adjusted confidence index dipped into negative territory, and it plunged to a three-year low. Since the March survey does not reflect a completely new economic reality, it is expected that construction confidence will fall dramatically in April.

Over the past month, most companies in Hungary made an immediate transition to ‘home office’. Cushman & Wakefield embarked upon a study to understand their experiences.

Large sums are expected to be invested in property again by institutional investors worldwide in 2018. Based on its “Investment Intentions Survey 2018”, INREV expects around €51.1 billion to be invested in property this year. The largest share of this €51 billion will go to Europe (around 41.2 percent), followed by the USA (31.7 percent). The Asia-Pacific region (17.4 percent) is in third place.