Commercial property investment in Poland has reached a seven-year high, according to new survey. Last year €3.12bn [£2.6bn] was ploughed into the country’s real estate market — much of it from Germany.
Of the 2013 investments — which increased steadily from the summer onward — German funds and individuals accounted for 25 per cent of all deals. Figures compiled by the property firm Cushman & Wakefield also confirmed that Germany purchased more Polish property than any other country. The second largest group of investors, at 21 per cent, was from the United States, with the UK third at 15 per cent. Polish nationals spent just €263m [£168m] and accounted for eight per cent of all deals.
With property transactions at their highest since 2006, the retail sector made up 44 per cent of the total 2013 volume, with office buildings attracting 38 per cent and warehouses 14 per cent. And it looks as though the outlook for investment remains positive for 2014, C&W reports. “The investment market will maintain its momentum provided there is sufficient supply of prime properties and stronger appetite for investing in more demanding properties, particularly in the retail sector,” said head of capital markets, Piotr Kaszyński.
The total investment in Polish shops and retail complexes last year reached €1.38bn [£1.1bn], up 20 per cent on 2012, with the three largest single property deals all within the retail sector. CH Silesia City Centre in Katowice was bought for €412m [£334m] by an international consortium of investors led by German financial services group Allianz, making it the year biggest investment. In second place was the €180m [£150m] sale of Galeria Kazimierz in Krakow to Invesco, followed by the disposal of Charter Hall’s portfolio of five regional shopping centres to Tristan Capital Partners for €174.5m [£145m].
By individual signings, the office market was the best performing with 27 separate deals totalling €1.19bn [£1bn]. When it came to office take-up, however, Poland is still lagging behind much of the European Union. In December, the vacancy rates for the seven largest Polish cities was more than 11 per cent, about 1.5 per cent higher than EU core cities.
There were mixed fortunes, too, for Poland’s industrial sector. The transaction volume for the industrial market totalled €0.44bn [£334m] in 2013, a drop of around five per cent from the peak year of 2012. But there was no shortage of sites. At the end of 2013, modern warehouse supply reached 7,942,000 square metres, increasing over the previous 12 months by five percent.
“The Polish industrial market performed very well in 2013 with the three transactions signed by Amazon totalling approximately 300,000 square metres being a major highlight.
“This being said, several other major transactions were also concluded which again confirms that occupiers perceive Poland as a very attractive and strategic location and we anticipate the growth in occupier activity to continue in the foreseeable future,” explained Tom Listowski of C&W in Poland.
