AEW Europe has sold its real estate portfolio in Hungary

Hungarian real estate assets are back as a target for international investors after years of limited activity.

European real estate investment manager AEW Europe announced the disposal of its Hungarian real estate portfolio to a joint venture between Morgan Stanley, local developer Wing and Austrian retail developer CC Real. 
The agreed price for the portfolio remains confidential; however JLL can reveal that this deal represents the largest sale in Hungary since the 50% sale of Budapest’s Allee shopping centre to Allianz Real Estate Germany for around €100m in 2010.

The portfolio consists of the 49,000 sq m MOM Park shopping center and office building located in Budapest’s affluent 12th district; the 27,400 sq m West End Business Centre located next to the city centre on Váci corridor, Budapest’s largest office submarket; and the 13,300 sq m EMKE office building located on the Pest side of the Danube river, in the heart of the city’s lively business district.

Hungary was hit hard during the global financial crisis and struggled to regain momentum in the following years. The country’s total commercial real estate transaction volumes fell steeply from €2bn in 2007 to a low of €146m in 2012. The pace picked up in 2014 with annual volumes of €580 million and in H1 2015 total transaction volumes reached some €280 million. Annual investment volumes in 2015 are expected to exceed 2014 volumes by 20-30%.