An outlook on the real estate market for 2021 and how it will increase its growth in 2022.
FREMONT, CA: In 2021, the real estate sector emerged as the most desirable investment choice, which is likely to continue even in 2022. in step with records from real estate consulting companyCushman & Wakefield Echinox, the volume invested in real estate assets in Romania, Poland, and Slovakia rose in 2021, while the Czech and Hungarian markets suffered a fall compared to 2020. Total transaction volumes in the region totaled EUR 9.98 billion, down 4.3 percent from the previous year. The Polish market grew by 8.3 percent, while Slovakia's transaction volume increased by 54.2 percent in 2021 compared to last year. On the other hand, the Czech Republic saw a 36 percent drop in transactions involving income-producing assets, while Hungary saw an 18.2 percent loss. According to the Romania Investment Marketbeat study, 54 real estate asset transactions were completed last year, extra than double the number recorded in 2020, with a total investment volume of EUR 916 million, up 0.2 percent.
Following a first semester in which investment volume was below the same period in 2020, the market rebounded significantly in H2 2021, with transactions totaling EUR 618 million, an increase of more than 100 percent over the first half-year. In terms of asset types, logistics and industrial properties accounted for about 40 percent of all transactions and were followed by retail properties. Despite the reduced number of assets traded, the eight office buildings that changed hands in 2021 accounted for 44 % of the total volume (EUR 402 million), followed by the industrial segment and retail.
Investors' interest in real estate assets remained high in 2021, despite a relative re-balancing of landlord-tenant relationships, which is aimed to assure a steady income flow for investors. Sale and lease-back agreements are a high-potential market segment, as owners of various firms can gain from such deals if they can fund their primary operations by selling their real estate assets. At the beginning of Capital Markets at Cushman and Wakefield Echinox, Cristi Moga stated that they might expect new record deals in 2022 to reach the one billion euro transactional volume threshold.
