The demand for office space in Prague increased by 29% quarter-on-quarter for the first quarter of 2021 and by 44% year-on-year. Although the largest transactions of the quarter were lease renegotiations – including Seznam.cz (14,800 sqm) in Palác Křižík in Prague 5 or MSD Czech Republic (6,800 sqm) in Riverview in Prague 5 – the share of newly leased space increased to 58%. The increase in newly leased and pre-leased space indicates confidence and healthy growth of the Prague office market. Despite the fact that leasing activity posted record numbers, the vacancy rate rose by 60 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 8.4%. JLL recorded an increase in vacancy rates in almost all Prague districts, as announced in the last report.

Prime rent in the first quarter of 2022 increased again and is in the range of €24.00-24.50 per sqm per month in the city centre. In addition to rents, rising construction prices are still reflected in offers of allowances for office build-outs or other incentives. The Prague Research Forum published the office market figures for Q1 2022.

Gross take-up on the Prague office market for the whole year of 2021 increased by 16% compared to the previous year to the level of 387,100 sqm. Prime headline rents also increased in Q4 2021 and ranged between €23.50–24.00 per sqm per month in the city centre. The Prague Research Forum published office market figures for Q4 2021.

According to a report published by Cresa Poland, the vacancy rate on Poznań’s office market stood at 13.3% at the end of Q3 2020, down by 1.2 pp on the second quarter. It is the only office market in Poland to have recorded a quarterly fall in vacancies.

During the first nine months of 2020, developers completed over 530,000 sqm of office space in Poland: 231,600 in Warsaw and 305,000 sqm in eight major regional markets (Kraków, Wrocław, Tricity, Poznań, Łódź, Katowice, Lublin and Szczecin). Due to the new supply and moderate demand, more than 1.2 million sqm of office space is now available. Axi Immo presented the latest data for the Polish office market as at the end of the third quarter of 2020.

The 12-month rental outlook for both prime and secondary CBD offices is stable in Bucharest and Budapest and negative in Warsaw. In Prague, the outlook is negative for prime assets and stable for secondary assets. The vacancy rate is expected to increase over the coming year in all of the four capital cities. Occupier conditions are currently neutral across the region, with Bucharest and Budapest expected to become tenant markets over the next 12 months, according to Colliers International.

Two retail parks in the Czech portfolio of the Focus Estate Fund end their year with zero vacancy: Most Retail Park (GLA – 6,471 sqm) in the city of Most and Centro Ostrava Retail Park (GLA – 7,699 sqm) in the city of Ostrava.

In Q1 2018, Warsaw’s vacancy rate fell to its lowest in five years while absorption amounted to 45,000 sqm, down by nearly 30% on the average observed over the last five years, according to Cresa.

Although demand slightly decreased on the Prague office market in Q3 2017, the vacancy rate further declined to its current level of 7.7%, JLL reports.

Tenant demand for modern logistics and manufacturing space in Poland is growing at a rapid pace. In H1 2017, warehouse supply totalled 707,000 sqm while take-up hit a record high of 1,786,000 sqm, as revealed in Cushman & Wakefield’s latest report.