The Experts Club analytical center analyzed data from the international consulting firm Savills on real estate market trends in the world’s leading countries and identified a number of trends in the European real estate market in 2026.
Investment in European real estate reached 54 billion euros in the second quarter of 2026, up 7.7% year-over-year, according to Savills data.
Despite the overall increase in transaction volume, Savills characterizes the recovery of the European market as uneven. Escalating macroeconomic and geopolitical risks have forced investors to raise their standards for property quality.
Capital is now primarily directed toward real estate that provides a stable cash flow, has a transparent market value, and is located in segments with long-term structural demand.
One of the main beneficiaries of this new investment strategy has been so-called “living real estate.”
In the first half of 2026, multifamily rental housing, specialized student dormitories, senior living facilities, and housing for the elderly already accounted for 29% of all real estate investments in Europe.
Thus, nearly one in every three euros of institutional capital directed toward European real estate went to properties directly related to residential living.
The growing interest in this sector is linked to a housing shortage in many major European cities, rising rents, demographic changes, and relatively stable income streams compared to some traditional types of commercial real estate.
At the same time, investor attitudes toward office properties are shifting. High-quality, modern office buildings in central business districts remain in demand, while outdated and poorly located properties are significantly harder to sell or finance.
According to Savills, the market is effectively divided into two types of assets. In the first category, investors are willing to compete for high-quality properties with reliable tenants and predictable income. In the second, real estate with a poor location, high future costs, or uncertain demand may remain outside the scope of investment interest for a long time.
Savills notes that Europe remains an important destination for global capital, but investment requirements have become significantly stricter.
Markets where a significant price correction has already occurred and a clearer entry point for investors has emerged have the best chances of attracting capital. An additional advantage is the limited supply of new properties and stable demand from tenants.
“The recovery is taking place in stages and is driven by investor confidence in specific deals, rather than a general willingness to take risks,” note Savills analysts.
Thus, the European real estate market is gradually emerging from a period of sharp interest rate hikes and asset revaluation; however, the new investment cycle differs significantly from the previous one. Capital is increasingly being directed not simply toward real estate as an asset class, but toward specific segments with the most predictable long-term demand.
Source: Savills, Global Capital Markets Research Q2 2026 — Europe.
The Experts Club analytical center analyzed data from the international consulting firm Savills on real estate market trends in the world’s leading countries. Global real estate investment in the second quarter of 2026 reached approximately $250 billion, up 13% compared to the same period last year, according to data from the international consulting firm Savills.
The data was published on August 25 in the report “Savills Takes Stock: Global Capital Markets Research Q2 2026.” According to the company’s assessment, the active portfolio of deals nearing completion suggests that the market will continue to recover in the second half of the year.
Savills estimates that by the end of 2026, global real estate investment volume could increase by approximately 16%.
However, the market recovery is uneven. Investors have become more selective and are concentrating their capital on properties with predictable cash flow, clear value, and long-term demand.
According to a study cited by Experts Club, the U.S. remains the largest market. In the second quarter, investment in U.S. real estate reached approximately $131 billion, a 20% increase from the previous year.
Separately, Savills notes a sharp increase in large portfolio transactions in North America. Their volume reached $35 billion, up 60% year-over-year. By comparison, transactions involving individual properties grew by approximately 10%.
The growth in portfolio investments is linked to the return of large institutional capital and investors’ desire to immediately secure a large-scale presence in promising segments. Data centers, self-storage facilities, and real estate for the elderly are of particular interest.
The European market also continued its recovery. The volume of transactions in the second quarter totaled 54 billion euros, up 7.7% compared to the second quarter of 2025.
In the Asia-Pacific region, investment grew even faster—by 18%, to $46 billion. For the first half of the year, investment volume in the region grew by 25%.
Particularly notable growth in the Asia-Pacific region is being observed in the industrial and logistics real estate sectors. In the second quarter, investment in this segment rose by 17%, and for the first half of the year as a whole—by 28%.
At the same time, interest in student housing and other types of residential real estate is growing. Savills attributes this, in particular, to increased international student mobility and the desire of institutional investors to build large portfolios of income-generating properties.
However, Savills cautions that the market’s recovery cannot yet be considered a widespread new investment boom. Geopolitical tensions, the situation in the Middle East, borrowing costs, and uncertain economic prospects are forcing investors to be much more selective when choosing properties.
In early 2026, deteriorating investment sentiment amid the conflict surrounding Iran even led to negative seasonally adjusted quarterly investment trends. However, the impact of this factor turned out to be less severe than market participants had feared.
According to Savills, the current stage of the cycle is characterized by the return of primarily experienced and well-capitalized players. Therefore, the main factor driving investment decisions is no longer the expectation of general growth in real estate prices, but rather the quality of a specific asset and its ability to generate stable income.
CAPITAL, EXPERTS CLUB, INVESTMENTS, MARKET, REAL ESTATE, Savills
The investment company S1 REIT has registered a new portfolio fund, S1 “Kyiv Income-Generating Real Estate” (S1 DNA), which will invest in income-generating residential real estate in the capital—including both existing properties and those currently under development.
The new fund’s offering size is 100 million UAH, the company announced on September 2, 2026.
The projected yield for S1 DNA is stated at 9% per annum in dollar terms, taking into account two components: current rental income and potential appreciation in property value.
The minimum initial investment will be 122,000 UAH, and subsequent investments can be made starting at 1,000 UAH. S1 REIT plans to begin the pre-sale of fund certificates in mid-September 2026.
The new fund’s strategy involves building a portfolio consisting of several properties. Initially, the portfolio will include apartments in the income-generating buildings S1 VDNG and S1 Obolon.
S1 VDNG is an existing rental property near the “Vystavkovyi Tsentr” metro station in Kyiv. Its apartments are leased out and generate a steady cash flow.
S1 Obolon is under construction at 18 Obolonskyi Avenue, near the “Minska” metro station. Upon completion, the apartments are also planned to be used as income-generating real estate. For investors, the asset during the construction phase is expected to offer, first and foremost, capitalization potential driven by appreciation in property value.
Thus, S1 DNA combines two sources of potential income: rental payments from apartments already in operation and an increase in the value of properties currently under development.
“By holding a stake in the fund, an investor becomes a co-owner of each individual apartment in two buildings at different addresses. The fund combines the present and the future: today it consists of apartments in two income-generating buildings, and in the future, the fund will be expanded with new properties,” said Igor Gifes, CEO of S1 REIT.
According to him, the transition from investing in a single building to a portfolio model should allow for the diversification of risks across several real estate properties.
The company attributes the decision to launch the new fund, in particular, to the completion of the placement of S1 VDNG fund certificates in early June 2026. Following the full placement of this fund, S1 REIT decided to offer investors a product whose assets will not be concentrated in a single building.
The S1 REIT portfolio also includes the S1 Obolon fund, with a projected annual yield of 10% in dollar terms, and the S1 Plaza Poznyaki commercial real estate fund, with a stated yield of 10.4%. The S1 VDNG fund, whose offering has already been completed, has a projected annual yield of 8.2%.
In June 2026, S1 REIT reported that the total assets under management of its funds had reached 100 million UAH.
S1 REIT works with income-generating residential and commercial real estate in Kyiv. The company’s business model is based on the acquisition of real estate by collective investment funds, its subsequent professional management, and the distribution of the resulting income among investment certificate holders. Projects are implemented in collaboration with the developer Standard One and the management company S1 Ukraine.
The stated fund returns are projected and calculated by the company based on a financial model that takes into account rental income, fund expenses, and the potential appreciation of its assets.
Residential real estate prices in the Czech Republic rose by 10.06% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026; adjusted for inflation, real growth stood at 8.33%, marking the highest rate since the 2021 housing boom, according to data from the Czech Statistical Office analyzed by Global Property Guide.
According to data from Ukraine’s largest international real estate agency, Homium, the nominal value of residential real estate in the Czech Republic has more than doubled over the past 11 years and is now 18% higher than the previous cyclical peak in the third quarter of 2022.
At the same time, the growth rates of the primary and secondary markets have virtually evened out. New housing prices rose by 10.01% over the year, while existing housing prices increased by 10.07%.
According to Homium, a company that deals in Czech real estate among other markets, price growth is being driven by a combination of limited supply of new housing and a recovery in mortgage demand. The company is also seeing particularly high interest in Prague and Brno, where the supply shortage is most pronounced.
“The Czech market is currently interesting because, following the 2022–2023 correction, it returned to growth fairly quickly. At the same time, buyers are becoming more price-sensitive, so demand is gradually shifting toward small apartments in Prague, outlying areas, and resale properties. For investment buyers, not only the potential appreciation of a property but also its liquidity in the rental market is becoming increasingly important,” Homium commented on the situation.
According to Homium, in May–June 2026, studio apartments and 1+kk apartments in central Prague were listed for approximately 248–414 thousand euros, in the capital’s outskirts for 186–269 thousand euros, and in Brno for 145–207 thousand euros. For 2+kk apartments, the price range was 331,000–580,000 euros, 248,000–373,000 euros, and 207,000–331,000 euros, respectively.
Prague remains the country’s most expensive market. According to data from the Global Property Guide, the average price of an apartment in the capital in 2025 was approximately 5,44 thousand euros per square meter, which was about 82% higher than the Czech average of approximately 3 thousand euros per square meter. In the Prague new-construction market, the average asking price reached about 7,310 euros per square meter, and in the most expensive district, Praha 1, it was about 10,850 euros per square meter.
Older residential properties remain more affordable. The average price of apartments in prefabricated buildings is estimated at approximately 2,94 thousand euros per square meter, while new housing from developers costs on average nearly twice as much—about 5,8 thousand euros per square meter.
Rapid price growth has already become a factor in the country’s monetary policy. On June 18, 2026, the Czech National Bank raised its key two-week repo rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75%. The regulator points to persistent inflationary pressures, including those stemming from housing and service costs.
In addition, in June, the CNB decided to increase the countercyclical capital buffer for banks from 1.25% to 1.5% starting in July 2027, citing active lending, rising household and corporate debt, and further increases in apartment prices as reasons for the decision.
The average gross yield on long-term residential leases in the Czech Republic in the second quarter of 2026 was 3.39% per annum. In the most expensive district, Prague 1, yields on individual apartments ranged from approximately 2.3% to 3.3%, while in more affordable areas of Prague, they could approach 4%.
Homium believes that, in the medium term, the main market drivers will remain limited construction rates, the cost of mortgage financing, and sustained demand for housing in major cities. At the same time, following the sharp growth of recent quarters, investors should evaluate the yield of a specific property more carefully, as purchase prices in Prague are rising faster than potential rental yields.
Homium has been operating in the international real estate market for over 10 years and offers properties in the Czech Republic, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, and several other countries. In the Czech Republic, the majority of the properties listed by the company are concentrated in Prague and Karlovy Vary.
The primary source of price statistics is the Czech Statistical Office; the market analysis was published by Global Property Guide and updated in August 2026.
Source:
Global Property Guide – https://www.globalpropertyguide.com/europe/czech-republic/price-history
Homium – https://homium.ua/czech-republic/
CZECH REPUBLIC, housing. Homium, INVESTMENT, PRAGUE, REAL ESTATE
According to “Serbian Economist”, in the first half of 2026, Serbia became the largest source of foreign capital directed toward real estate purchases in Montenegro, according to data from the Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG).
From January through June, foreign investors invested 237.77 million euros in Montenegrin real estate, which is 3.89% more than during the same period last year. Overall, gross foreign direct investment inflows into the country totaled 457.37 million euros, meaning real estate accounted for about 52% of all FDI inflows.
Serbia took the lead with 55.75 million euros, or 23.45% of all foreign investment in Montenegrin real estate.
Germany took second place with 22.9 million euros, and the United States came in third with 20.84 million euros. Switzerland contributed 18.5 million euros toward real estate purchases, and Turkey contributed 16.34 million euros.
Against this backdrop, the continuing decline in the role of Russian capital is particularly noticeable. In the first half of the year, only 5.37 million euros came from Russia for the purchase of Montenegrin real estate, placing it in tenth place. Poland and Belgium, among others, now rank higher than Russia in the list.
This trend began to take shape as early as last year. In the first quarter of 2025, Russia fell out of the top five largest markets for real estate buyers in Montenegro for the first time and ranked sixth. For 2025 as a whole, the volume of Russian investment across all sectors of Montenegro’s economy fell to 33.98 million euros, of which approximately 17.8 million euros went to real estate. By comparison, in the years 2020–2024, Russian capital was traditionally among the country’s largest sources of foreign investment.
However, it is not entirely accurate to refer directly to “Serbian citizens” or “Russians who purchased real estate” based on these figures. The CBCG methodology considers the country from which the payment originated, which may not correspond to the citizenship of the ultimate buyer or beneficiary. For example, a Russian citizen may pay for a property from an account in Serbia, the UAE, or another country. Therefore, the data primarily reflects a shift in the geography of financial flows in the real estate market.
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.
