The commercial real estate investment volume in Europe hit €44bn in the second quarter, a 28-percent increase y-o-y and a 10 percent jump from Q1 figures, according to the latest report from CBRE. The investment volume in the CEE region for the first six months of the year reached €2.5bn, up 15 percent from the same period last year, thanks to strong performances by Hungary and the Czech Republic. The Hungarian commercial investment volume increase by 35 percent y-o-y, while the Czech market saw a 36 percent boost in deals.
“As predicted, we saw investment volumes increase already in H1 2014, and we are already close to exceed last year’s annual level. In the first half of the year, over €230m turnover was registered as speculative investment volume and other €50m trade of vacant/owner occupied properties was added on top of that. This is still far below the level we see in the Czech Republic or Poland but clearly indicates a rising trend, reflecting a better sentiment about the Hungarian property investment market,” said Gabor Borbely, head of research and consulting at CBRE Budapest.
Despite these increases, however, Russia and Poland continue to dominate the region’s commercial property investment market. The two countries took more than 60 percent of the investment volume (€1.2bn and €1.1bn respectively) seen in the region.
