CEE is entering an uneven economic recovery against a backdrop of inflationary pressures, with Romania remaining under pressure from inflation...
Central Europe's commercial real estate sector is experiencing a transformation, with Hungary leading the recovery through an 86% year-on-year increase in investment driven by Asian capital from China and South Korea. The CATL factory in Debrecen and BYD in Szeged, along with the planned Volvo plant in Košice, Slovakia, are reshaping the region's industrial landscape and creating demand for logistics space.
Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have recorded an 18% increase in banking assets between 2021 and 2024.
Colliers has published a new report focusing on CEE, examining economic and real estate trends across Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The study shows that 2025 brought moderate economic recovery, easing inflation and rising focus on sustainability, while real estate markets were shaped by modernization, limited new office supply, strong logistics demand and retail park expansion.
Romania faces an economic maturity test, with the key question being whether it can transform current vulnerabilities into reforms and progress.
Romanian mobile phone accessories retailer Contakt has announced its entry into the Czech market with two locations in Prague, marking a new step in its European expansion plan. The company has signed for locations in high-traffic malls with official opening estimated for March 2026.
Industrial developer CTP reported net rental income growth of 15.4% year-on-year to €549 million in the first nine months of 2025. The company achieved like-for-like rental growth of 4.5%, driven by indexation and lease renewals.
CEE economies have been delivering solid GDP growth, outpacing many Western European peers despite external trade uncertainties and recent inflationary pressures, according to Colliers' latest report.
Romania's hospitality industry recorded a 19% increase in turnover in the first half of 2025, the third largest advance in the European Union after Greece (35%) and Hungary (22%), according to Eurostat data cited by Colliers. Rising room rates have pushed local pricing into line with established CEE markets such as Poland and the Czech Republic, even though the number of overnight stays in hotels almost stagnated, with an increase of less than 4%.
The first half of 2025 has confirmed a strong return of investor activity in Central and Eastern Europe. The Czech Republic, with the most remarkable performance, is emerging as the regional leader, ahead of even Poland, according to the latest iO Partners report.
The European property market has begun to adapt to new conditions. The latest data, based on a survey in 28 countries across Europe, has clearly confirmed this, according to the 14th edition of the Deloitte Property Index.
Industrial developer CTP has announced a new partnership with Singu, the operator of a cloud-based Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM) platform.
The CEE commercial real estate market experienced a significant rebound in H1 2025, with total investment volumes across the five key CEE markets reaching nearly €5 billion, Knight Frank reports.
Industrial developer CTP said its gross rental income for H1 2025 reached €367.2 million, marking a 14.4% year-on-year increase, while signing 1 million sqm of new leases, an 11% increase compared to H1 2024.
The industrial real estate market in CEE has entered 2025 with strong momentum. According to new market data released by iO Partners, the total stock of industrial space has reached 34.4 million sqm in Q1 2025, marking a 1.1% quarter-on-quarter increase.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has cut its 2025 growth forecast for its regions by 0.2 percentage points to 3.0%, with a moderate rebound to 3.4% expected in 2026. This follows a similar downgrade in February and reflects mounting global headwinds, including rising trade policy uncertainty, softening external demand, and newly imposed tariffs.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a regional loan of up to €120 million to AFI Europe to support its development pipeline in Serbia, Poland, Romania, and Czechia.
Construction labour cost and availability have become the primary concerns for real estate developers in Central Europe, according to a new survey by Deloitte. This shift sees it surpassing project financing, which has been the dominant issue in recent years.
Investors across Europe will continue to focus on sectors with strong structural tailwinds, such as living and logistics, according to a Knight Frank report.
Real estate investment decisions in CEE are currently made considering various challenges, such as difficulty in predicting five-year exit strategies for investments, liquidity in the region, and concerns about the impact of ESG regulations on building compliance and financing, to name a few. CEE Property Forum 2024 in Vienna has taken a closer look at European investment trends in the panel chaired by Tim Wilkinson, MRICS, Head of European Acquisitions at Indotek Group.
Romanian companies represent 53% of the top 5,000 companies in Romania, but figures show significant differences between the country's regions.
Raiffeisen Bank Romania ended 2025 with strong results, recording 22% growth in new clients compared to 2024.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested a record €955 million in 37 projects in Romania in 2025, up from €707 million for 44 projects the previous year.
Dan Timotin, General Manager of beer maker Ursus Breweries since July 2025, will leave the company at the end of February 2025, according to a company statement.
Vista Bank Romania has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Investimental, a financial investment services company.