Money Buzz! Europa

Tag: real estate transactions

  • Almost 10 billion euros invested in real estate assets in CEE last year

    Almost 10 billion euros invested in real estate assets in CEE last year

    The volume invested in real estate assets in Romania, Poland and Slovakia increased in 2021, while the Czech and Hungarian markets witnessed a downturn when compared with 2020.

    At regional level, the total transacted volume reached 9.98 billion euros, a 4.3% decrease compared with the previous year, says Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

    The Polish market registred a growth of 8.3%, while the transacted volume in Slovakia was 54.2% higher in 2021 than in the previous year.

    On the other hand, Czechia registered a 36% drop in transactions pertaining to income-producing assets, while the volume in Hungary declined by 18.2%.

    In Romania, 54 transactions with real estate assets were completed last year, twice more such transactions in comparison with 2020.

    Total investment volume in Romania reached 916 million euros, up 0.2%.

    CountryTransactional Volume 2021 (mil. EUR)Transactional volume 2020 (mil. EUR)
    Romania916914
    Czechia1.7212.689
    Hungary8811.077
    Slovacia774502
    Poland5.6915.254
    Total9.98210.435
  • 10.4 billion euro, investment volume in the 6 largest countries in Eastern Europe last year

    10.4 billion euro, investment volume in the 6 largest countries in Eastern Europe last year

    Romania almost doubled its share in the region’s turnover over the previous year and entered the big league, after Poland and the Czech Republic, but before Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.

    In a year severely affected by the pandemic, in which Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary all saw year on year declines in volumes, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria all saw positive trends.

    Overall, volumes in 2020 declined by 24% compared to 2019 with the year closing at about 10.4 billion euro.

    Poland remained leader in the region, with investment volumes accounting for 51% of the overall CEE6 total with a total value of investment transactions worth 5.2 billion euro.

    Czech Republic followed with a 26% share, thanks to a large residential portfolio sale.

    Romania completes the top with a 8.5% share and a volume in the area of almost 900 million euro (up by about 40% over 2019).

    The transaction completed by NEPI Rockcastle, advised by Colliers, involving the sale of four office projects to AFI Europe accounted for almost a third of the local investment market in 2020.

    The office sector was dominant all over the region in 2020 in terms of transactional activity, with a share of 41% of the total volume of investments, followed by industrial and logistics spaces sector (32%) and away from the more challenged retail and hospitality sectors (12%).

    Bucharest, highest yields in the region

    Bucharest has some of the highest yields in the region for the office sector (7%), compared to at most 4.25% in Prague, 4,65% in Warsaw or 5.25% in Budapest.

    Going forward, rents will remain relatively stable, with prime headline still around 18 euros per square meter in the office sector in Bucharest (and an average in the region of 14 euro per square meter).

  • Total CEE investment volume at over €9.7 billion in 2020

    Total CEE investment volume at over €9.7 billion in 2020

    The total CEE investment volume in 2020 reached a total of over €9.7 billion, representing an almost 32% decline from 2019, JLL reports.

    Poland continued its dominance with 57% of total CEE volume and notably a strong year in logistics. Q1 was very active with roll-over deals from 2019 but as the year progressed volumes declined compared to previous years with a country total of €5.6 billion.

    This is a 30% decline from 2019, but still the 3rd highest volume on record.

    Czech Republic registered the largest deal in its history with the Residomo transaction of €1.3 billion

    Excluding this transaction, the Czech market saw a 52% decline in volumes. Investor demand remains strong for core product but there were limited core office transactions – notably only Churchill Square and Rustonka, both in Prague.

    Investment volumes declined by 32% in Slovakia

    In Slovakia, despite a very promising start to the year and expectations of 1bn, investment volumes actually declined by 32% as a result of Covid-19.

    Investor demand remains in strong for core and core+ industrial product as the occupational market recovered in Q4 2020.

    CEE Investments Volumes / Data gathered by JLL

    In 2020, prime yields saw some upward pressure in comparison to 2019, with the most visible decompression in the office and retail sectors. The logistics sector is expected to see some small compression as 2021.

    In Hungary there was a smaller decline of 25% with a market dominated by the office sector representing 65% of investment volume.

    The previous high dominance of domestic capital in 2019 has been reversed back in 2020 to an equal split between foreign and domestic capital.

    Romania, the only country in the region to show an increase

    In Romania, 2020 started with a large pipeline of transactions; several high-profile office deals were in advanced stages of negotiation.

    While the outbreak of COVID-19 had a significant impact on the investment market, the total transaction volume for 2020 represented a significant increase from 2019.

    The only country in the region to show an increase, driven mainly by the large NEPI Rockcastle portfolio acquired by AFI.

  • 468.3 thousand real estate transactions recorded in Poland in 2019

    468.3 thousand real estate transactions recorded in Poland in 2019

    In 2019, 468.3 thousand real estate transactions were recorded in Poland. The majority of real estate purchase/sale transactions took place in urban areas, 61.1% of the total.

    The number of real estate purchase/sale transactions recorded in 2019 was by 0.4% lower than in 2018 and the total value of concluded transactions increased by 0.5% compared to 2018.

    The average usable floor area of residential premises sold on the primary market in 2019 amounted to 56.8 m2 and on the secondary market to 53.2 m2.

    The average usable floor area of commercial premises amounted to 75.4 m2, of office premises – 92.3 m2 and of garages – 34.6 m2.

    In 2019, the prices of residential premise were by 8.7% higher than the year before (in 2018 – by 6.5%). The growth in prices occurred both on the primary market and on the secondary market (by 6.7% and 10.4% respectively).

    The average price per 1 m2 of usable floor area of residential premise sold on the primary market amounted to PLN 5,752 and on the secondary market – PLN 4,840.

  • €9.9 billion cumulative value of real estate properties transacted in CEE in 2020

    €9.9 billion cumulative value of real estate properties transacted in CEE in 2020

    Romanian market was the only one which recorded a growth of the investment volume in the real estate market in the entire CEE/SEE, in 2020 compared to 2019.

    As such, real estate properties with a cumulative value of €9.9 billion were transacted in the region in 2020, an almost 29% decrease from the 2019 volume.

    Poland, which has the highest share in the total volume (57%), recorded a 27% decrease, Hungary even more at -35%, while Czech Republic had the most dramatic drop at 60%.

    CEE & SEE investment volumes (mil. €)

  • Romania: Real estate investments in 2020, 27% higher than those recorded in the whole 2019

    Romania: Real estate investments in 2020, 27% higher than those recorded in the whole 2019

    Almost two thirds (62%) of real estate investors confirm interest for acquisitions of new projects, both in Bucharest and regional cities, and are currently ready to buy at more favourable conditions, given the new economic context generated by the Covid-19 epidemics, according to a survey conducted by Colliers International on the investment market among nearly 50 real estate companies representing investment funds, developers, asset managers and banks.

    Investors continue to show the most interest in industrial and logistics projects, with optimism increasing since April, when Colliers conducted a similar survey.

    The share of respondents stating they want to better understand the situation before making a move has dropped from 67% in April to 30% in October.

    Moreover, the percentage of investors ready to ”buy at more favourable conditions” has increased from 23% to 62%.

    The share of market participants looking to expand their portfolios both in Bucharest and regional cities far outweighs that of those seeking an exit, according to another positive chart in the report.

    Around 57% of respondents with assets/focus in Bucharest are looking for opportunities, as are 32% of respondents with assets in regional cities.

    Regarding the financing availability, there are some improvements since the April survey conducted by Colliers, though the majority of investors (55%) still expect a short-term worsening, versus 74% in the April survey.

    Meanwhile, investment volumes on the local real estate market reached nearly 820 million euro in Romania in the first three quarters of the year, up by 45% versus 2019’s same period and 27% more than in all 2019, making the best three quarters in the last decade, with office assets accounting over 90% of volumes.

    While there is some inertia at play, it is encouraging that the year’s biggest deals – the sale of the NEPI Rockcastle office portfolio for over EUR 300mn to AFI Europe and the sale of Floreasca Park to the Fosun/Zeus JV for over EUR 100mn – were both finalized in August, in spite of the pandemic.[HA1]

    A recession with a much swifter recovery

    The investors are still looking at a recession with a much swifter recovery than that of 2009, with the real estate segment being resilient against this backdrop.

    The main issue on the mind of real estate market participants is the uncertain global economic backdrop (51% of answers), followed by concerns about Romania’s fundamentals, like its fiscal imbalances (40% of answers) and uncertainties about real estate in general (38% of answers). This suggests a fairly difficult backdrop for conducting deals, but it appears that general concerns weigh a bit more than Romania’s specific problems.

  • Bulgarian real estate market almost recovers in June 2020

    Bulgarian real estate market almost recovers in June 2020

    According to the Registry Agency (AB) data, cited by Capital.bg, 18.955 real estate transactions were registered last month, which is only 0.96% below the numbers for June 2019, when there were 19.139 transactions made.

    By comparison, in March and May, the transactions were about 30% less compared to the same months of the previous year. And in April, the only full month of state of emergency, they collapsed by 55% on an annual basis.

    In the second quarter of 2020, the activity in property purchases in Bulgaria decreased by 27.8%.

    For the period April – June, the least affected were Sofia and Varna markets. In both cities the decrease was 17.2% in Sofia from 7.670 to 6.352 deals, and in Varna – from 3.271 to 2.709 deals. Next is Plovdiv with a drop of 19.4% (from 3.703 to 2.988 trades).

    In Sofia, in June, 2.990 transactions were recorded, compared to 3.041 in the same month a year earlier.

    Three of the six major cities saw an increase in the number of transactions in June compared to the same month of 2019.