The amount of modern industrial real estate in Hungary has reached 7.7 million square meters today, 34% of which has been constructed by developers, while the rest has been realized by firms building facilities for themselves.

Development activity has been picking up quickly across the country, CBRE says. As far as speculative investments are concerned, for example, last year’s 10% ratio is expected to rise to 45% by the end of the year.

The vacancy rate has dropped in all the major cities in Hungary compared to the previous quarter, CBRE notes. The vacancy rate for industrial and logistics real estate has fallen to 6.6%, with a total of 511,900 sqm of space remaining open to let.

At the same time, in the first half of the year a total of 162,500 sqm of new industrial and logistics real estate has been completed, a figure market professionals expect to exceed 289,000 sqm by the end of the year, which would represent a 28% drop compared to last year, CBRE says in its report.

Considering Europe, insecurities surrounding Brexit have considerably shaken the market, leaving its activity lower than average, CBRE says. Industrial real estate deals have so far accounted for 45% of the total, as compared to the usual 60%, although the strong momentum experienced in the first quarter signals the continuing importance of the European market, according to CBRE.