Uncertainty and volatility have been the two dominant trends shaping the commercial real estate market and buyer sentiment in recent months. However, according to the latest report from Cushman & Wakefield, the Polish market, whose fundamentals remain strong, is broadly expected to regain equilibrium. Change is being seen in the number and types of real estate transactions taking place – due to the constrained availability of safe prime assets for sale on the office market and high financing costs, investors seeking higher returns are turning their focus to higher-risk transactions. With retail footfall figures for large schemes back at satisfactory levels after the pandemic and attractive asset pricing, the retail market has become an interesting sector for bargain hunting. The warehouse and logistics sector continues to feature prominently on investors’ radars.

The first project of the charitable foundation Housing For IDPs - the Socialization Centre for IDPs for 19 families - will be opened in the Irpin community at the beginning of the year.

2024 will be a challenging year for many companies in the CEE real estate sector that will have to refinance their loans at new, increased costs. Those that need to redeem their corporate bonds in the coming quarters may also have a lot of problems.

Savills recorded 40 transactions closed in 2023 in the Czech commercial real estate sector with a total investment volume of €1.2 billion. Investment volume in 2023 was down 32% in comparison to 2022. 31% of investment transactions in 2023 were closed in Prague.

The “2% Safe Mortgage” housing loan subsidy programme introduced by Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) party has caused housing prices in Poland to shoot into space. However, the new government in Warsaw cannot abolish it, as a spike in demand could shake up the entire domestic property development industry.

The new Polish government, dominated by the Koalicja Obywatelska (Civic Coalition) party, announced back in the election campaign that it would resume work on a law on REIT-type structures, abandoned several years ago. Economic organizations are calling on it to make good on its economic promises - the introduction of domestic REITs could bolster domestic demand and lure more domestic capital to the real estate market, virtually non-existent here today.

2024 is foreseen to experience a decline in SEE construction markets but a comeback is the projected current scenario for 2025. Romania is expected to contribute most negatively to the shrinkage of the SEE region in 2024. The rest of the countries is forecast to perform better. Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia could end up at higher level in 2025 than what was experienced in 2023. The EECFA (Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association) released its 2023 winter construction forecast.

According to the "Ski Report" published by Savills for the eighteenth time this year, on average, across the Savills Ski Prime Price League table of the top twenty resorts, prices for prime residential property fell by approximately -4% for the year. However, this fall is from record levels, after prices rose more than 20% in the 2021/22 season. While down slightly from their 2022 highs, values remain on average 20% above 2021 levels and 41% above pre-pandemic prices. 

It is anticipated that the market will experience the transition from being perceived as a problem to an opportunity for many investors and funds in 2024. CBRE summarised this year's developments in the Czech commercial real estate market and provided an outlook for 2024. 

Office real estate in Poland, as in the entire CEE region, is trying to forge a new identity for itself in the new times of hybrid work and lower demand. Participants in the panel on the future of offices at Future of Real Estate 2023 discussed how this process is taking place. The event was organised by Property Forum and RICS in Warsaw.