CEE investment volumes for the first half of 2020 increased 7% year-on-year, according to new figures from Colliers International.
The total amount invested across the six CEE countries reached €6.26 bn in the first six months of the year, thanks also to two large portfolio deals totalling in excess of €2.2 bn. These resulted in Poland and the Czech Republic taking a 78% share of the CEE-6 total.
The €1.3 bn residential portfolio transaction by Heimstaden represented 67% of the total volume traded in the Czech Republic and circa 21% of total volumes. Meanwhile, the acquisition of the 61.5% GTC shares from Lonestar by Optima across CEE represented 15% of the volumes traded.
Aside from the significant weight of residential resulting from the portfolio deal, Colliers reported that the office and industrial & logistics sectors both performed well with 41% and 22% of the volumes respectively.
Said Kevin Turpin, regional director of research for CEE: 'Unsurprisingly, the retail and hotel sectors remained somewhat more limited in activity, being among the hardest hit sectors by the pandemic.
'In terms of pricing, prime industrial and logistics yields have remained stable, with some compression in select markets. Prime office yields have moved out on average by 25 bps while prime retail has moved by 50 bps.
'Investor appetite remains strong for CEE but a cautious approach is still being applied while markets try to settle and travel restrictions still apply from some parts of the globe.'
The report concluded that EMEA investors (excluding CEE) were the most active during H1 2020, particularly Sweden with the Heimstaden deal, followed by German and French capital, each with ca. €250 mln of acquisitions.
As in previous years, CEE domestic capital was also very active, securing a third of all volumes.
