The volume of investment in all property in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) reached €8bn by the end of September 2011, double what it was in to the same period of 2010 according to CBRE.

Patrick O’Gorman, director of CEE capital markets at CBRE, said: "Two trends are clear from the data. On the one hand investors well known to the region are once again becoming more active; Austrian investors are for example, becoming increasingly active. On the other hand, more opportunistic investors are trying to benefit from healthy market situations in Poland and the Czech Republic in segments of the market where they believe income and capital value growth will be apparent over the next few years."

"These value-add or opportunistic investors mainly originate from the UK and the US. UK investors have seen their total market activity (measured in deal volume closed) increasing by 80% compared to the whole of 2010. Even more remarkable is the increase of US investor allocations into CEE. With a total of over €1.2 billion, US investors have reached the second highest level of activity ever recorded in CEE, just below peak levels achieved in 2006."

Poland and Russia had previously dominated transactions in recent quarters; however the Czech Republic has stepped up to become the most active country in terms of investment volume in Q3 2011. The reasons for this include some large transactions closing in the Czech Republic as well as the hardening of prime yields in Poland and especially in Russia. Deal volumes in markets beyond these markets remain low.

Jos Tromp, head of CEE research & consultancy at CBRE, said: "The risk of inflation and limited alternative investment opportunities have increased the available money for investment into real estate, with prime Central European real estate particularly sought after. Asset classes high on investors’ wish lists include prime office products - located in Warsaw, Prague and Moscow, together with prime retail - being mainly large shopping centres with stabilized income streams located in capital or regional cities with a minimum population size of 250,000."