Polish office market is investors’ first pick in CEE

Investors are positive towards commercial real estate in Central and Eastern Europe, with the Polish office market being the preferred one, followed by the Czech and Polish retail space markets, according to a research paper published by DTZ entitled CEE Investor Survey, In the upcoming 12 months, 74 percent of investors expect further allocation of capital to commercial real estate in Central and Eastern Europe compared with 72 percent six months ago, driven by a decrease in yield and vacancy rates. As many as 23 percent of investors believe that the value of their portfolio will remain unchanged, and 3 percent predict a decrease in their portfolios’ value. "In the coming 12 months we foresee that the largest expansion in Central and Eastern Europe will be in Poland and the Czech Republic, where around 70 percent of investors surveyed by us are looking to acquire assets in these countries’ retail and office markets. They are particularly interested in opportunistic and value added investments, as well as in the core segment," said Łukasz Maciak, Capital Markets Director, DTZ. Half of the respondents expect an improvement in terms of financing conditions in the region, compared with 66 percent a year ago. Approximately 60 percent of the investors interviewed anticipate a decrease in prime retail yields on the Polish market, whereas 20 percent expect it to remain unchanged, and 10percent foresee an increase.