The Hungarian real estate market recorded an investment volume of €231 mln in the first half of 2014, a 46% increase on the same period last year, according to Colliers International. The full-year volume for 2014 is expected to reach €500 mln.
The Hungarian real estate market recorded an investment volume of €231 mln in the first half of 2014, a 46% increase on the same period last year, according to Colliers International. The full-year volume for 2014 is expected to reach €500 mln.
The level of property trading in the first half of 2014 was last seen in Hungary in 2011.
The third quarter kicked off with the closing of two transactions totalling nearly €50 mln and another expected to close shortly, said Bence Vécsey, head of investment services at Colliers International Hungary.
Vécsey acted as sales adviser on both recent deals. In the first, Skanska divested the 17,800 m2 Green House office project in central Budapest for €36 mln.
In the second deal, a 37,000 m2 distribution centre single-let to hypermarket chain Auchan was sold for about €14 mln. 'A promising feature of today’s market is that investors have again started acquiring logistic parks, the least favoured asset class since 2009,' Vécsey said.
Colliers International forecasts that volumes could exceed €500 mln this year, easily the best transactional performance of the last three years.
The increased activity can be attributed to several factors: the improving macroeconomic environment, the comparatively inexpensive nature of the local market, low interest rates, the amount of capital at the disposal of investors, as well as the wider availability of debt.
Investor profiles have also changed. The previously dominant Austrian and German funds are focusing on select exit opportunities, but UK and US based private equity houses, listed property investors, Middle Eastern based buyers and Hungarian institutions have been actively pursuing opportunities and closing deals.
'It may be early to refer to new benchmark pricing, but the year so far, together with the deals in the pipeline, looks very promising,' Vécsey added.