Investment activity in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania maintained momentum with €1.14bn invested in Q2, 73 percent higher than in the same period last year, writes Cushman & Wakefield. So far, €2.5bn has been invested in the region since the start of the year. Given the significant pipeline of transactions, year-end volumes are expected to exceed 2013 levels. Poland continues to attract the strongest investor interest.
The office sector remains strong across Central Europe, pulling in 43 percent of the investment volume in Q2. PPF’s purchase of City Tower skyscraper in Prague 4 was the largest investment deal made in Central Europe in the second quarter
“Core investors are looking at Poland and the Czech Republic for prime, landmark shopping centers, viewed to offer better value against other core European countries while the regional cities across both countries have opened up with a significant shift of core and value-add capital towards this sector,” says James Chapman, partner and head of CE Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield. Prime shopping centers in Hungary and Slovakia are also back on the radar for investors searching for stock, he adds.
The Czech Republic is benefitting from a significant increase in transactions as more investors flood the market as the economy improves. Total investment volume in the Czech Republic in the previous quarter reached €340m compared with €108m in the same period last year.
