The volume of transactions concluded in the Polish commercial real estate market reached over €3.4 bn in 2013, making it the most active year for the market since pre-crisis 2006, according to preliminary data from Jones Lang LaSalle.
The volume of transactions concluded in the Polish commercial real estate market reached over €3.4 bn in 2013, making it the most active year for the market since pre-crisis 2006, according to preliminary data from Jones Lang LaSalle.
The 2013 figure represented an increase of 26% on the volume of €2.73 bn recorded for 2012.
In terms of market segments, retail led with transactions totalling €1.32 bn, followed by office transactions which amounted to around €1.06 bn and industrial at €656 mln.
The dominant position of the retail sector (Silesia City Center, Charter Hall portfolio, Wola Park, Galeria Kazimierz and Galeria Dominikañska) is a noticeable change compared to 2012, when the sector was outperformed, albeit slightly, by the office sector, JLL said.
In terms of transaction numbers, the largest number of sales/acquisition deals was recorded in the office sector.
The largest 2013 transaction across all commercial real estate market segments was the sale of the Silesia City Center for around €400 mln. The largest transactions in the office market were the sale of the New City complex in Warsaw for €127 mln and CA Immo's acquisition of Axa Immoselect 's remaining 49% stake in the former Europolis office portfolio.
Foreign investors accounted for around 94% of the total volume in 2013, while Polish investors represented 6%.
Tomasz Puch, head of Office & Industrial Investment at Jones Lang LaSalle, predicts transaction volumes on the Polish commercial real estate market this year to reach around €3 bn, based on deals already in progress.