CEE commercial real estate investment volume up 11% year-on-year

Commercial Real Estate Investment in Spain and Ireland Close to Record Levels

Central and Eastern European (excluding Russia) commercial real estate investment volumes have risen 11% year-on-year according to CBRE’s latest report. Overall European investment increased 27% year-on-year.

Poland’s real estate market continues to attract strong investment, with €1,781 million invested in the 9 months to end of September 2014.  However, limited availability of product in prime commercial real estate in Poland means investors are now looking more closely at The Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary, which have seen increases of 11%, 215% and 126% respectively.

Investment into Russian commercial real estate has dropped significantly, down 45% in the nine months to the end of September 2014, due in no small part to socio and political issues. 

Commenting on the preliminary results, Mike Atwell, head of CBRE CEE Capital Markets, said:
“We have seen continued strong interest in commercial real estate across the region, apart from in Russia.  This has been driven by low interest rates and increased allocation towards the asset class.  Based on the deal pipeline we have seen, we believe the last quarter of the year will be strong.  We also see no signs of a slowdown in activity and anticipate a continued increase in investment volumes for 2015.”

In Europe, Ireland and Spain are close to record-breaking levels for commercial real estate investment as buyers search for value in non-core markets. European commercial real estate investment totalled €48.4 billion in Q3 2014 - a substantial 27% increase on Q3 2013 and 4% higher than the previous quarter.  For the year-to-date, total investment has reached €133 billion compared to €105 billion for the first three quarters of 2013, an uplift of 27%.

The performance of Irish and Spanish CRE investment markets was particularly impressive in Q3 2014.  Ireland achieved its highest total ever this quarter with €1.6 billion, surpassing the previous high in Q3 2006 of €1.5 billion and in Spain, the €3.5 billion invested in Q3 2014 was the country’s second highest quarter on record.