Warsaw one of the most attractive real estate markets of Central and Eastern Europe

In the first quarter of 2025, the value of investment transactions on the Polish real estate market reached EUR 600 million, which means an increase of 50 percent. year on year – according to the Colliers consulting company's report. It has been added that Warsaw is one of the most attractive markets.

Colliers pointed out that a change in investors' attitudes is observed in global commercial real estate markets.

“In response to global instability related to customs, security issues and trade situation, European countries take steps to strengthen cooperation and increase financial outlays, which will provide support for commercial real estate markets,” it was indicated in the study.

The leader of the Central and Eastern Europe region, in terms of investment volume in the first quarter of 2025, was the Czech Republic (EUR 1.5 billion), while Poland came second, ahead of Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.

The authors of the publication indicated that Poland stands out from the region as an economy with the highest growth forecasts in 2025. (2.9 percent), ahead of both the Czech Republic (1.1 percent), Hungary (0.5 percent), Romania (0.8 percent) and Slovakia (2.1 percent) and Bulgaria (2.8 percent). It was noted that the improvement of financing conditions and further activation of investors is favored by the cycle of interest rate reductions started in May by the National Bank of Poland.

The report indicates that lower interest rates, Nearshoring (shortening of supply chains) and strong foundations increase the interest of investors in real estate in Central and Eastern Europe, especially logistics, data centers and rental apartments. “In the face of the growing protectionism of growth forecasts for the CEE region, the largest cuts were recorded in Romania and Slovakia (-0.7 pp). Poland remains the strongest player, driven by household expenses and investment revival,” it was indicated in the publication.

According to Colliers experts, In the first quarter of this year. Warsaw stood out as the most attractive investment market in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of capitalization. The capital of Poland – in their opinion – on the one hand offers higher rates of return than Western European countries, and on the other – creates a lower risk than the rising markets of the CEE region, which makes it an extremely attractive place for investing capital.

The report shows that despite the uncertainty, the best office locations in the main European cities (including Paris) recorded a high level of tenants' activity, which was conducive to the increase in rent. However, it was noted that in terms of total transactional activity, quarterly volumes remained well below the average of 2019-2023. Experts also emphasized the growing importance of the defense sector and infrastructure, which translates into demand for industrial and logistics real estate. The interest of investors in hotels and dorms is also growing.

Colliers said that in terms of transaction volume in the first quarter of 2025, Spain (EUR 4.3 billion), Sweden (EUR 3.71 billion), France (EUR 3.4 billion) and Italy (EUR 2.7 billion) Among the largest transactions, the takeover of the NAPIAX data center in Spain was indicated for EUR 1 billion by the Aermont Capital Fund or the purchase of a portfolio of defense real estate by the Swedish Fortification Agency for 747 million euros. (PAP)

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