The volume of real estate investments in Central and Eastern Europe last year fell by 24 percent year on year to EURO 10.4 billion (CZK 267 billion). Roughly half belonged to Poland, the Czech Republic represented a quarter. In Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, the volume of investments decreased year-on-year, while in Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia it increased.
“Many markets face a shortage of affordable product because the owners of the most sought-after assets are either long-term holders or waiting for markets to be settled instead of selling at a discount,” said Kevin Turpin, Colliers’ regional director of market research for Central and Eastern Europe.
According to Andy Thompson, Director of the Investment Department for the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in Colliers, demand for quality real estate remains strong, as evidenced, for example, by two recent office transactions in Prague. One was the sale of Parkview in Prague 4 to German investors and the other was the sale of the Churchill I and Churchill II projects to local institutional investors.
Last year, more than two-fifths of the volume of real estate transactions accounted for offices in individual sectors. This was followed by industrial real estate (32 percent), apartments (13 percent), retail (12 percent) and hotels (two percent).
Last year’s biggest deal was the acquisition of the Residomo housing portfolio by the Swedish investor Heimstaden for EUR 1.3 billion (CZK 34 billion). According to Turpin, the largest investors came from Germany, Israel and Austria. “Domestic investors from Central and Eastern Europe were again very active during 2020, especially Hungarian and Czech capital. Asian capital, specifically from Singapore, also maintains interest in the region. South Koreans and Chinese also continued to make further acquisitions, most of which were in industrial and logistics sector, “added Turpin.
Source: CTK and Colliers International
