At €10.7bn in 2022, CEE investment volumes were down just 3.3% year-on-year, compared to 2021. However, investment in the region is still more than 20% lower than pre-pandemic levels (volumes exclude M&A activity and forward purchases).

While difficult to predict, Colliers currently estimates that year-end volumes could reach anywhere between €7.0bn and €10.0bn this year.

The office sector dominated 2022, with 38% of volumes. Retail and industrial followed with 27% and 26% respectively. There were 10 large single asset or portfolio transactions that traded throughout the year, each above €200m, across these three sectors and accounted for around 31% of the regional investment volume.

CEE-6 domestic capital has been the most active in 2022, with a 38% share of total regional volumes. In particular, Czech (18.7%), Hungarian (7.6%) and Romanian (6.0%) capital have been behind these strong numbers.

This was followed by European (21.5%) and American (20.5%) capital. South African and, to a lesser extent, Middle Eastern capital has also been more active with a combined share of around 12% of total investment.