Weekly CRE Market Commentary

Budapest Refinancing Record Falls as Poland Confirms Path to a €6 Billion Investment Year

Gránit Pólus Group's €290 million green loan refinancing of Budapest's Westend complex, the largest single-property real estate refinancing in Hungary in five years, capped a week that also saw Poland's H1 2026 investment volume confirmed at over €3 billion and full-year projections raised to surpass €6 billion. Logistics leasing activity remained dense across Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Romania, while sale-leaseback structures continued to gain traction as a capital tool for CEE occupiers.

Market Mood

Poland's commercial real estate investment market extended its H1 momentum into confirmed full-year guidance this week, with EuropaProperty reporting that 2026 volume is expected to surpass €6 billion, more than double the H1 total and led by retail, followed by industrial and logistics, then office. This trajectory, combined with Gránit Pólus's record Budapest refinancing, indicates that both equity and debt capital are now flowing at a pace not seen in the region since before the 2023 repricing cycle began.

Where Capital Is Moving

Gránit Pólus secured €290 million in green loan refinancing for its Westend complex from a consortium led by Erste Bank, the largest single-property real estate financing in Hungary in five years, following a programme of sustainability upgrades at the complex. DL Invest Group confirmed its own €146 million refinancing from Erste Group and Erste Bank Polska for a six-park logistics portfolio totalling approximately 260,000 sqm, reinforcing Erste's position as one of the most active lenders in CEE this month.

Sale-leaseback activity featured prominently this week as a financing tool. Gide advised SF-Filter on the sale of a 4,000 sqm warehouse and office complex in Lubin to SCPI Reason, managed by MNK Partners, with SF-Filter leasing back the asset as its Poland and CEE distribution centre. Separately, Polish manufacturing, logistics, and industrial businesses were highlighted this week as increasingly using sale-leaseback structures to unlock real estate capital for reinvestment while retaining operational control, a trend AXI IMMO's Joanna Lewandowska described as a strategic financing tool rather than a distress signal.

Logistics leasing spanned four countries this week. 7R marked its return to the Warsaw warehouse market with 7R Park Warsaw South III, a 47,000 sqm development in Sękocin with Strefa Tenisa already signed for 3,500 sqm. CTP delivered a 56,000 sqm distribution centre for LPP Logistics at CTPark Bucharest West in under a year, supporting the Sinsay brand's South-Eastern European supply chain and targeting BREEAM Outstanding certification. In Bulgaria, CTP signed 16,700 sqm of combined leases with existing customers BOX NOW and Amperel at CTPark Sofia Ring Road, part of a 43% increase in CTP's H1 2026 leasing activity. GARBE broke ground on a 39,000 sqm building at its new Green Park Senec in Slovakia, with Austrian logistics firm Lagermax signing as first tenant for 9,000 sqm. P3 Logistic Parks expanded its relationship with HOPI at P3 Mszczonów, adding 22,790 sqm and bringing HOPI's total footprint at the park to nearly 57,000 sqm.

In office, Syrena Real Estate acquired the historic Renaissance Building on Warsaw's Plac Zbawiciela, a six-storey, 7,000+ sqm property financed by Bank Pekao, with the acquisition explicitly positioned to allow future conversion of office space to residential units. Fieldfisher leased the entire ninth floor of Skanska's Studio A tower in Warsaw, and Forvis Mazars committed to approximately 2,500 sqm at Yareal Polska's LIXA E building for its new Polish headquarters, bringing that building to 96% leased.

CEE/SEE

AFI Europe completed its €282 million acquisition of six retail parks in Romania, launching the AFI Value Park network and becoming the single largest driver of Romania's investment rebound, which saw the first seven months of 2026 surpass full-year 2025 volume despite a 46% year-on-year H1 decline overall. Redkom Development broke ground on a 35,000 sqm retail park in Tarnów, Poland, already 90% pre-leased with Agata furniture, Cinema City, and Lidl Polska as anchors. Panattoni Park Kielce, completed only weeks earlier, reached full occupancy after an existing tenant expanded its space within the 66,000 sqm complex. Ghai Sant Ram, through Ghai Family Holding, acquired a 30,000 sqm plot near Pipera Plaza in northern Bucharest for €14.3 million to develop approximately 650 apartments, extending his Romanian residential portfolio beyond 2,500 units. UDI Group secured a building permit for the CZK 3 billion second phase of Urban Park in Brno, delivering nearly 900 flats.

Slovenia and Adriatic

Porto Montenegro secured an $80 million investment from the International Finance Corporation to advance sustainable development of its integrated waterfront destination in Tivat, supporting Montenegro's tourism and maritime sectors with a focus on water use, waste management, and energy efficiency. This is one of the largest single IFC commitments to Adriatic hospitality and mixed-use infrastructure in recent years. Slovenia's domestic stock market reached a record high this week, with continued strong performance from Luka Koper, whose shares have gained 548% over five years, underscoring sustained investor confidence in the port's role as a key regional logistics asset.

Outlook

The convergence of record Hungarian refinancing, confirmed Polish full-year guidance above €6 billion, and sustained multi-country logistics leasing signals that H2 2026 is shaping into the strongest half-year for CEE commercial real estate since before the 2023 downturn. The growing prominence of sale-leaseback structures this week is worth monitoring closely: as occupiers increasingly treat real estate as a financing tool rather than a fixed cost, expect further portfolio-level sale-leaseback transactions from Polish and Czech industrial occupiers through year-end.

_Sources

<sub>EuropaProperty
- EuropaProperty — Poland's Investment Market Regains Momentum — https://europaproperty.com/polands-investment-market-regains-momentum/
- EuropaProperty — DL Invest secures over €146 million to refinance its logistics portfolio — https://europaproperty.com/dl-invest-secures-over-e146-million-to-re/
- EuropaProperty — Redkom Development breaks ground on Tarnów retail park — https://europaproperty.com/redkom-development-breaks-ground-on-tarnow-retail-park/
- EuropaProperty — CTP expands partnership with QSL through BTS logistics facility in Budapest — https://europaproperty.com/ctp-expands-partnership-with-qsl-through-bts-logistics-facility-in-budapest/
- EuropaProperty — Sale & Leaseback: Leveraging Real Estate as a Strategic Financing Tool for Business Growth — https://europaproperty.com/sale-leaseback-leveraging-real-estate-as-a-strategic-financing-tool-for-business-growth/
- EuropaProperty — 7R launches new project near Warsaw — https://europaproperty.com/7r-launches-new-project-near-warsaw/
- EuropaProperty — Gide advises SF-Filter on a sale and leaseback transaction with MNK Partners — https://europaproperty.com/gide-advises-sf-filter-on-a-sale-and-leaseback-transaction-with-mnk-partners/
- EuropaProperty — Renaissance Building in central Warsaw acquired by Syrena Real Estate — https://europaproperty.com/renaissance-building-in-central-warsaw-acquired-by-syrena-real-estate/
- EuropaProperty — Porto Montenegro and IFC Partner for Sustainable Growth — https://europaproperty.com/porto-montenegro-and-ifc-partner-for-sustainable-growth/
- EuropaProperty — Studio A becomes the new home of Fieldfisher Poland — https://europaproperty.com/studio-a-becomes-the-new-home-of-fieldfisher-poland/
- EuropaProperty — AFI acquires retail park portfolio in Romania — https://europaproperty.com/afi-completes-the-acquisition-of-six-retail-parks-in-romania/</sub>

<sub>Property Forum
- Property Forum — Gránit Pólus secures €290 million refinancing in Budapest — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/granit-polus-secures-eur290-million-refinancing-in-budapest/21795
- Property Forum — Panattoni fully lets Park Kielce after completion — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/panattoni-fully-lets-park-kielce-after-completion/21796
- Property Forum — VGP fully lets new hall at České Budějovice park — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/vgp-fully-lets-new-hall-at-ceske-budejovice-park/21802
- Property Forum — Syrena Real Estate acquires office building in Warsaw — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/syrena-real-estate-acquires-office-building-in-warsaw/21804
- Property Forum — CTP delivers 56,000 sqm logistics hub for LPP in Bucharest — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/ctp-delivers-56000-sqm-logistics-hub-for-lpp-in-bucharest/21803
- Property Forum — Ghai Sant Ram acquires Pipera land for 650-home project — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/ghai-sant-ram-acquires-pipera-land-for-650-home-project/21799
- Property Forum — CTP signs 16,700 sqm of leases in Bulgaria — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/ctp-signs-16700-sqm-of-leases-in-bulgaria/21812
- Property Forum — GARBE breaks ground on logistics park near Senec — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/garbe-breaks-ground-on-logistics-park-near-senec/21815
- Property Forum — P3 signs large lease at Mszczonów park — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/p3-signs-iarge-lease-at-mszczonow-park/21809
- Property Forum — UDI Group secures permit for Brno project — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/udi-group-secures-permit-for-brno-project/21807
- Property Forum — Forvis Mazars to move Warsaw HQ to near-full LIXA E — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/forvis-mazars-to-move-warsaw-hq-to-near-full-lixa-e/21775
- Property Forum — Sale and leaseback: how Polish firms are unlocking real estate capital — https://www.property-forum.eu/news/sale-and-leaseback-how-polish-firms-are-unlocking-real-estate-capital/21779</sub>

<sub>Finance.si
- Finance.si — Najbolj donosna slovenska delnica zadnjih petih let? Luka Koper — https://www.finance.si/finance-vlagatelj/najbolj-donosna-slovenska-delnica-zadnjih-petih-let-luka-koper/a/9049633 — Author: Vlagatelj Maks
- Finance.si — Domači borzni indeks rekordno, skok delnice Telekoma — https://www.finance.si/finance-vlagatelj/domaci-borzni-indeks-rekordno-skok-delnice-telekoma/a/9049562 — Author: Vlagatelj Maks</sub>

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