Take a walk on the bright side

The real estate industry gathering, which took place from October 4th to 6th, was already in its 20th year and according to the organisers this year’s event broke many records. Over 41,500 people came from 75 countries (with Poland coming sixth out of the most numerous attendees and the Czech Republic – seventh). More than 2,000 exhibitors from 35 countries prepared stands in six exhibition halls with Polish exhibitors being the fourth most numerous, the Romanians being seventh and the Hungarians the ninth. It comes as no surprise that the Germans came first in this regard both among those present and those exhibiting at the fair. “Poland was strongly represented as usual, by local authorities as well as by businesses. One could feel the optimism at the Polish stands. Our country has consistently recorded high demand and supply in all real estate market segments and this is not just the case in the capital but also in the regional cities. Additionally in regard to investment volumes, despite a slight nominal decline in first half of the year compared to the same period last year, the Central and Eastern European region, particularly Poland, is looking much better than Western Europe and the rest of the world. Analysts say that with the volume of deals currently under negotiation, there is a high probability of reaching a record transaction volume in 2017. CA Immo Poland is certainly contributing to these figures with its recent completion of its Spire B office building purchase in Warsaw for over EUR 100 mln,” said Andrzej Mikołajczyk, the head of CA Immo Poland.

The talks conducted over those three days were full of optimism. Low interest rates continue to drive the investment market. Investors continue to look for purchasing opportunities. People were still talking about the troubles with VAT in Poland, but a lot of interest in our products could also be seen among German investors, which was a point made by Daniel Bienias, the managing director of CBRE. In his opinion problems might emerge on the supply side but it is still not a danger to be worried about. “The commercial real estate market in Poland is seen very positively by investors and Poland continues to be the first country in which they start investing within the CEE region. The country’s rapidly developing economy as well as the latest rating agency forecasts are attracting new investors. We took the opportunity to talk to them about this at this year’s Expo Real fair. Strong investment activity in regional cities, which has been growing for a few years, is increasing the number of investors and the liquidity of the assets on the market. Of course we did not forget to ask about REITs and when and how they will be introduced. However, investors were not expecting explanations of the current political situation, as was the case in 2016. Instead, we filled this time by discussing investment possibilities and how the market was developing. The high liquidity of our market in comparison with the rest of the region makes investors, who are preparing for another active year, optimistic. These are good forecasts for the Polish commercial real estate market,” claimed Dariusz Forysiak, the associate director in the investment consultancy department at Colliers International. These conclusions were reiterated by Beata Kokeli, the country manager for Poland and the head of asset management at TriGranit, who pointed out that we are at the centre of attention for investors from more and more far-flung countries as well as for funds from neighbouring countries such as the Czech Republic. One point of interest was a zone of retail chains (including German discount chains) that had been set up in the hall where warehouse developers were displaying. When questioning a representative of one of these chains about their presence in Munich and whether they would be going to Cannes in November, I was told that they were going to be on the French Riviera but only for one day and not as an exhibitor. Is this a sign of a new emerging trend? It will be worth checking out in a year’s time at the 21st Expo Real fair, which is to take place on October 8–10th.