Investors are re-emerging in the long-troubled Central and Eastern European (CEE) market, bidding up the prices of core properties in an investment sector that remains slow. Tomasz Trzóslo, head of JLL's Capital Markets team in CEE told PropertyEU in an interview that the increase in investor interest 'will ultimately lead to improved transactional levels across the CEE countries in 2010.'
Investors are re-emerging in the long-troubled Central and Eastern European (CEE) market, bidding up the prices of core properties in an investment sector that remains slow. Tomasz Trzóslo, head of JLL's Capital Markets team in CEE told PropertyEU in an interview that the increase in investor interest 'will ultimately lead to improved transactional levels across the CEE countries in 2010.'
'We should really diversify among the CEE markets, because activity is now picking up mostly in Poland and the Czech Republic, with Slovakia, Hungary and Romania set for recovery later this year,' Trzoslo said.
In the first half of 2010, he expects investment levels to come in two-three times higher than last year, which saw just a couple of assets traded in the market. 'In Poland, we envisage a pick-up in the level of investment, which will likely be over three times higher the amount transacted a year ago,' he added. According to Trzoslo, investment funds are becoming more aggressive in terms of bidding, driving prices upwards in Poland.
German open-ended funds such as Deka, Commerz Real, Union Investment and RREEF are currently looking at the market for potential acquisitions, but also value-added and opportunistic investors are sounding out the market for investment.
'Office properties are the most sought-after at present, because they have a smaller size, but shopping centres are definitely of interest as well. On the other hand, even the logistics sector that continues to suffer from high vacancy levels seems to be of interest to investors and we expect a couple of transactions in this sector as well,' he concluded.