According to Experts.news, residential real estate and institutional leasing became one of the fastest-growing segments of the Central and Eastern European investment market in the first half of 2026.
The residential/living segment accounted for 19% of investments in commercial real estate in the CEE-6, compared to just 7% a year earlier, according to Colliers data.
Thus, its share nearly tripled in less than a year and approached the levels of the traditionally largest real estate classes—offices and retail properties.
One of the most telling examples was Poland, where the largest transaction in the history of the local PRS (institutional rental housing) market took place in the first half of the year.
Vantage Development acquired 18 completed Resi4Rent projects for 575 million euros. The portfolio includes 5,322 apartments in Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Łódź, and Poznań.
This transaction reflects growing interest among large investors in residential properties intended not for the resale of individual apartments, but for long-term professional leasing of entire portfolios.
This model is widespread in Western Europe, but in Central and Eastern Europe, the institutional rental market is much younger and has more room for growth.
Interest in the segment is driven by urbanization, high housing purchase costs, labor mobility, and growing demand for professionally managed rental housing in the region’s largest cities.
According to Colliers, with total investment in the CEE-6 region amounting to 5.8 billion euros, the market is gradually becoming more diversified, and residential/living has already become one of the top four investment sectors.
The Romanian commercial real estate market attracted approximately 300 million euros in investment in the first half of 2026, compared to about 400 million euros during the same period last year, according to the Colliers CEE Investment Scene H1 2026 report.
Romania accounted for 5.4% of total CEE-6 investment volume, despite the fact that the country accounts for about 18% of the aggregate GDP of the six economies under review. According to Colliers, this indicates significant potential for further growth in the Romanian investment market.
Offices accounted for about 60% of Romania’s investment volume in the first half of the year, marking the highest share for this segment since 2022.
However, the market structure may shift in the second half of the year due to large transactions in retail and other real estate sectors.
Romania continues to offer higher yields than many more mature markets in Central Europe. In Bucharest, the prime yield stands at about 7.5% for offices, 7.75% for industrial and logistics properties, and 7.25% for shopping centers.
By comparison, yields on high-quality properties in Warsaw, Prague, and other more liquid capitals in the region are at lower levels.
Colliers notes that the decline in transaction volume in the first half of the year does not necessarily indicate a deterioration in the market’s fundamentals. A number of large transactions were in the final stages of completion after the end of June.
In particular, the sale of the MAS retail real estate portfolio to AFI Europe was completed in the third quarter. If the deals currently in progress are finalized, Romania’s total investment volume for 2026 could approach 1 billion euros.
This would be only the second year since 2007 that the Romanian market has reached this level, notes Robert Miklo, Head of Capital Markets at Colliers Romania.
Colliers operates in more than 70 countries, employs approximately 28,000 professionals, and has roughly $110 billion in assets under management.
As of August 24, the volume of lending to Ukraine’s agricultural sector had increased by 25 billion hryvnias compared to the same date in 2025—reaching 105 billion hryvnias, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky announced at a briefing on Friday.
“An additional 2 billion hryvnias in loans were issued over the past week. Overall, looking at the total as of today, the figure stands at 105 billion hryvnias as of August 24. This is 25 billion more than on the same date last year. Lending options are expanding,” he said.
As previously reported, according to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1012 dated August 13, 2026, agricultural producers are now able to obtain preferential loans under the government’s “5-7-9%” program for up to 90 million hryvnias to finance their operations, without the requirement that the funds be used for investment purposes.
Previously, loans to replenish working capital were capped at 5 million hryvnia.
As reported, the Ukrainian Maritime Corridor ceased operations on July 22 following enemy attacks. Farmers appealed to the government for assistance due to a sharp drop in market prices, difficulties with exporting their products, and the need for additional funds for storage.
Office real estate regained the top spot among commercial real estate investment sectors in Central and Eastern Europe in the first half of 2026, according to data from Colliers.
Offices accounted for 29% of total investment in the CEE-6, up from 23% a year earlier. With a total market volume of EUR 5.8 billion, this corresponds to approximately EUR 1.7 billion in investments.
Retail real estate became the second-largest segment, with a 27% share, up from 21% in the first half of 2025.
Investor interest in residential and “living” properties grew even faster. Their combined share rose from 7% to 19%.
At the same time, industrial and logistics real estate—which was the largest market segment just a year ago—saw its share decline from 31% to 17%. This was due not only to changes in activity within the warehouse market itself but also to the rapid growth of transactions in other real estate classes.
Colliers notes that in the office segment, investors are primarily seeking modern buildings in prime locations with high energy efficiency and a stable stream of rental income.
The situation is becoming more challenging for outdated office buildings. They must either undergo modernization or be considered for repurposing.
Thus, the structure of the CEE market is gradually changing: after several years of logistics dominance, capital is once again flowing more actively into traditional offices and retail real estate, while institutional housing is emerging as a major investment segment in its own right.
Czech capital was one of the most active sources of investment in the Central and Eastern European real estate market in the first half of 2026, according to a Colliers study.
The total volume of investments by Czech investors in the region is estimated at approximately 1.9 billion euros. The presence of Czech capital was particularly noticeable in Poland, the largest investment market in Central and Eastern Europe.
Investors from the Czech Republic accounted for 23.6% of all investments in Polish commercial real estate from January through June. Germany accounted for about 19%, Polish capital for 11.5%, U.S. capital for 10.6%, and Hungarian capital for 6.8%.
The Czech Republic itself, meanwhile, remained the second-largest market in the CEE-6. In the first half of the year, deals totaling over 1.4 billion euros were concluded there. This is less than the record 2.2 billion euros for the same period in 2025; however, according to Colliers’ assessment, the market remains one of the most stable in the region.
Yields on premium office properties in Prague are estimated at approximately 5.25%, on prime warehouse facilities at around 5%, and on shopping centers at around 6%. These are among the lowest capitalization rates among the largest markets in Central Europe, reflecting investors’ relatively high valuation of Czech assets.
The activity of Czech capital in neighboring countries is part of a broader trend. Colliers notes that in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) markets, the influence of not only global funds from the U.S. and Western Europe but also investors from Central Europe itself is growing.
This is gradually fostering the development of a distinct regional investment capital capable of sustaining transactions even during periods when major international funds adopt a more cautious approach toward the region.
The newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine, Yo Osume, has arrived in Kyiv, according to the Japanese Embassy in Ukraine.
“We are pleased to announce that on August 29, the newly appointed Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine, Mr. Osume Yo, arrived in Kyiv. A new phase in the development of strong friendly relations between Japan and Ukraine lies ahead,” the embassy said in a post on social media platform X on Saturday.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Japan has become one of Ukraine’s largest bilateral donors. As of February 2026, Tokyo has pledged and is providing approximately $20 billion in aid to Ukraine, including financial, humanitarian, and recovery and reconstruction assistance. Japan’s direct budgetary support alone has exceeded $9.8 billion since February 24, 2022.
In 2026, Ukraine has already received $850 million in budgetary support from Japan through World Bank projects. In addition, Tokyo’s contribution to the ERA mechanism, funded by proceeds from frozen Russian assets, amounts to more than $3 billion.
Japan also supplies Ukraine with energy equipment, generators, vehicles, demining equipment, and other non-lethal aid.
In May 2026, Tokyo contributed an additional $14.658 million to NATO’s PURL mechanism for the procurement of non-lethal equipment for Ukraine. At the same time, Japan continues to apply sanctions pressure on Russia.
