According to ‘Investment market in Poland in H1 2020, a report published by real estate advisory firm Cresa, commercial real estate investment volume surpassed €2.85 billion, the second best result in the history. The key growth drivers were the office and industrial markets which together generated just more than 84 percent of the investment volume. The industrial market attracted nearly €1.08 billion worth of investments, which represented an all-time high, while the office market saw nearly €1.33 billion worth of deals, the second best result of the segment in the history.

“Before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, we expected the investment market to set another record this year. Despite the historically strong performance in the first half of the year, investment activity is likely to slow down in Poland in the second half and to bounce back quickly in the next 12 months,” Paweł Nowakowski, Head of Capital Markets at Cresa Poland, said.

The H1 investment volume was nearly 7 percent up on the same period last year. The first half of 2020 saw 52 transactions totaling more than €2.85 billion. The office and industrial markets led the way in the first half with a total of €2.41 billion worth of deals. Retail investment volume amounted to €0.45 billion (nearly 16 percent of the total volume). Due to the exceptionally difficult situation on the hospitality market, which was under lockdown for a considerable part of the first half of the year, no transaction was closed on this market.

“Investors’ appetite for the industrial sector remained strong, with the investment volume exceeding €1 billion, a record-breaking result for this sector in the first half of a year. Prime industrial assets offer long-term leases, and the rapid expansion of e-commerce is another driving force behind the growing demand for this asset class coming from tenants and investors alike,” Paweł Nowakowski added.

(WBJ)