Although in the category most affected by the pandemic, the retail sector was dominant in terms of transactions, with a share of 48% of the total volume of investments in the last quarter, followed by industrial and logistics spaces (29%) and offices ( 17%).
The fourth quarter of 2021 proved to be one of the best quarters in recent history, recording a total value of real estate investments of 342 million euros, up almost 400% from below 70 million euros in the period similar to last year.
"The last quarter of 2021 was fairly balanced, with all three major real estate segments - retail, industrial & logistics and office - making a significant contribution. Retail was the most active, with two transactions accounting for almost 48% of the total volume. The sale by Cora of the six properties in Romania, consisting of hypermarkets with a shopping gallery and parking with a total area of 135,000 square meters, to the Austrian investor Supernova marked the largest retail transaction in Central Europe and East on 2021", explains Simina Niculiţă, Partner & Head of Retail Agency at Colliers.
There are several negotiated transactions on these product categories, which started in 2021 and are due to be concluded this year. At the same time, in 2021, CTP bought the industrial portfolio of Helios Phoenix (150,000 square meters) for about 75 million euros, being one of the largest industrial and logistics transactions of recent times, and the owners of the Romanian DIY chain Dedeman bought the Atenor's latest office project, Dacia One, for about 50 million euros, amid exceptional rental conditions. The sale of the Class A office project was brokered by the real estate consulting company Colliers.
"The volume, although good, fails to show the true magnitude of demand, because the interest of investors responds to a limited supply of products. This is true for all major real estate sectors: office, retail and industrial. Due to the blocking of the authorization process, there is much uncertainty about the delivery of new products, a context in which we see an increased interest in existing, centrally located assets, which as a result of an investment can be converted into a residential, hotel or brought to a current standard of offices. We also see demand for types of specialized products in which the final investors are the beneficiaries of the rented space ", concludes Anca Merdescu, Associate Director for Investments Services at Colliers.
For assets in the industrial & logistics (I&L) sector, yields for top properties have fallen by about 0.5 percentage points in the last year to 7.5%. And in terms of offices, yields on prime assets fell from 7% in the third quarter of 2021 to 6.5% at the end of the year. For example, the acquisition of Dacia One by Dedeman from Atenor marked a new downward trend in prime yields, a new post-2007 low, although the long term of the lease was a factor that made a significant contribution.
