Investors spent a total of 鈧�2.2 bn on real estate in Central Europe in the first six months of this year and will likely exceed the 2014 level which was already at seven-year high.
Investors spent a total of 鈧�2.2 bn on real estate in Central Europe in the first six months of this year and will likely exceed the 2014 level which was already at seven-year high.
In its latest market overview, Cushman & Wakefield recorded 鈧�881 mln of activity across Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania in the second quarter, down from just over 鈧�1.3 bn from January to end-March.
Cushman & Wakefield said that given the significant pipeline of transactions the full-year volume will likely reach 鈧�7.5 bn and surpass last year's level of 鈧�7.3 bn, which was a seven-year high for the region.
James Chapman, head of CE Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield: 'Q2 has been all about making significant progress with deals that are now expected to close between July and September. Q3 2015 is going to be a record period for investment volumes in all countries across the CE region based upon the advanced status of numerous deals.'
Investors preference for the office sector increased with 鈧�394 mln traded in Q2 2015 (a 158% growth quarter-on-quarter). Retail and industrial saw weaker activity in Q2 than in Q1 with volumes at 鈧�380 mln and 鈧�52 mln respectively (down by 51% and 87% compared with Q1 2015).
Considering the full first half of 2015, however retail activity was up 55% on the same period last year and industrial by a moderate 12%. Retail will be a big driver of growth in H2 2015, Cushman & Wakefield said.
Country performances
Poland saw the highest volume of transactions over the second quarter (鈧�365 mln), while half year results show that the Czech Republic and Poland continue to attract the strongest investor interest. However, Hungary was the only country seeing higher activity than in Q1 and was also the only country seeing recent activity volumes above the 5 year quarterly average.
The largest portfolio deal in Q2 was Aviva鈥檚 sale of a 10-asset mixed-use portfolio across the Visegrad countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) to Lone Star for 鈧�185 mln.
In Prague Atrium completed the acquisition of Ark谩dy Pankr谩c shopping centre for 鈧�162 mln. Cushman & Wakefield鈥檚 Capital Markets advised on the deal.
Cushman & Wakefield's figures do not include Union Investment's acquisition of the Pallidium shopping centre in Prague for 鈧�570 mln. This deal tops the ranking of Top-10 deals in the region compiled by PropertyEU Research.
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TOP 10 CENTRAL EUROPE DEALS
H1 2015
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* preliminary data compiled by PropertyEU Research on reported investment activity from 1 January to 30 June 2015
For the latest investment briefing information on Central and Eastern Europe and other key European markets, see the digital Outlook edition of PropertyEU Magazine published in July.
