CEE activity in April beats Q1 monthly average

Property investment turnover in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) totaled approximately EUR 100 mln in April through a total of five transactions, according to CB Richard Ellis' CEE Property Investment MarketView for April 2009.

While this means that property investment remained low in April compared to previous years, it was about 32% higher than the monthly average for the first quarter of 2009. April's transactions included three retail transactions along with one office and one industrial transaction. Jos Tromp, Head of CEE Research & Consulting, explains: 'The core Central European markets of the Czech Republic and Poland accounted for four of the five April investment transactions and remain the most active CEE markets not only in terms of transactions closed, but also in terms of investor interest.'

Overall, April's market performance confirms that the CEE property investment market remains slow and reflects the market's reliance on investment by the German Open-ended Funds.