Fraser Watson, Head of Investment at Savills, says: “There is a broad consensus that the European, and potentially global, real estate market will pick up in 2025. Interest rates are still expected to fall further, which will of course drive investor engagement. This is just one part of the puzzle though. Another couple of important things to consider are the amount of ‘dry powder’ waiting to be deployed and the FOMO, fear of missing out, effect that is currently building.”
“In 2024, the retail sector led investment activity, capturing 35% of the total volume. Offices followed with 19%, while industrial properties contributed 14%. The residential sector also performed robustly, accounting for 12% of total investment, marking its highest volume in the last four years,” adds Vojtěch Wolf, Senior Investment Analyst at Savills.
In terms of sector preferences for 2025, on a more macro level the ‘beds ‘n’ sheds’ (residential and industrial) trend persists with investors. However, in the Czech market, the residential segment plays a smaller role for institutional investors due to limited availability of opportunities. This to some degree is also true for the industrial sector, where transaction volumes are historically comparatively low. Savills anticipates an increase in office stock entering the market this year, as well as the continued churn of smaller volume retail parks and some select shopping centres being traded.
“We observe that the retail sector is rising in popularity. Shopping centres have come back in the post-covid years strongly in terms of performance and have shown that they continue to be relevant to consumers and can generate sustainable levels of income for investors. We are seeing that shopping centres coming to market are trading and can attract multiple bids from potential buyers, showing that there is a depth of market,“ comments Fraser Watson.
Czech investors remain the primary players in the retail segment, while foreign buyers are showing growing interest in other sectors within the Czech Republic. A similar trend is expected to emerge in the shopping centre market.
