Colliers research shows investment in European property gaining momentum in Q2

Global leader in commercial real estate services and investment management, Colliers, has issued its latest market snapshot for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), which shows a resurgence of interest in property markets in the second quarter amid growing investor confidence in the region’s recovery prospects.    

Office assets were the main focus as investors bet on a shift back to more traditional working patterns as COVID measures are lifted. Q2 was notable for a return of €500 million-plus ‘megadeals’ in the office sector in markets such as Germany and the UK, of a kind that had largely gone missing in the first quarter as the pandemic resulted in restrictions on movement in many European countries. 

In Q2 2021, Poland recorded approximately €1 billion in closed transactions, which is approximately a 30 percent decrease compared to the Q1, including PRS transactions which accounted for 44 percent of the volume. The PRS sector has dominated the landscape with two major deals. Cornerstone/Crestyl and Heimstaden Bostad acquired 2,496 apartments located in the largest Polish cities from Budimex Nieruchomości, while NREP signed a contract with YIT for the development of 1,071 apartments in Warsaw.

Strong activity was also noticed in the industrial sector. The largest transactions included: the acquisition of a portfolio of five logistics parks with a total GLA of 209,000 sqm by REINO Capital on behalf of the Grosvenor Group and the acquisition by BentallGreenOak of a logistics park in northern Poland with a GLA of 50,000 sqm.

In the second quarter of 2021, Indotek, a Hungary-based investor, entered Poland by acquiring a portfolio of four office assets located in Warsaw from Immofinanz for €72.5 million.

“The transaction momentum is expected to increase in the coming quarter as travel restrictions are lifted. We are already observing the first effects – investors, especially from continental Europe, come to visit the property, actively participate in the processes and submit purchase offers with the prospect of finalizing the transaction as early as 2021. It is clear that the interest in the CEE region remains high. In the following quarters we expect new players to enter the market,” Piotr Mirowski, Senior Partner, Head of Investment Services at Colliers in Poland, said.

(WBJ)