Central and Eastern Europe witnessed over 50 investment transactions totalling €1.74 bn in the first six months of 2013, representing a 38% increase on the year-earlier period, according to data from Jones Lang LaSalle.
Central and Eastern Europe witnessed over 50 investment transactions totalling €1.74 bn in the first six months of 2013, representing a 38% increase on the year-earlier period, according to data from Jones Lang LaSalle.
Poland remained the leading regional market with a share of 56% (€970 mln), followed by the Czech Republic (€400 mln - roughly 23% share), Hungary (€170 mln), Slovakia (€137 mln) and Romania (€62 mln). By contrast, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia have not yet recorded any investment activity in 2013.
Office transactions accounted for 60% of all deals and almost 70% of the H1 investment volumes in CEE.
'Although the overall economic outlook in CEE remains varied, we have observed increased investor activity in the region during the first six months of 2013,' commented Troy Javaher, head of capital markets for CEE at JLL.
With a number of key transactions expected to close during the second half of the year, JLL is forecasting 2013 volumes to come in at around €3.5 bn.
Across the region, prime yields are expected to remain largely stable in the short term but this will continue to depend on how developments in the eurozone and banking sector evolve over the coming months, JLL said.
'The yield gap between prime and secondary product is 100 to 250 bps and we expect this spread to continue, or widen further,' noted Tomasz Puch, head of office and industrial investment at JLL.
