PLN 874m Rail Contract Moves Tri-City Transport Upgrade Into Delivery Phase

A consortium formed by Unibep and Track Tec Construction has formally signed a PLN 874.1 million net contract with PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe for the reconstruction of railway infrastructure between Gdańsk Osowa and Gdynia Główna.

The agreement was concluded on 24 August 2026, marking an important step for a project that had previously experienced uncertainty during the tender process. An earlier contractor selection was cancelled in May before the Unibep and Track Tec Construction consortium was subsequently chosen again.

The two companies each hold a 50% interest in the consortium, giving Unibep a share of approximately PLN 437.1 million net in the contract. The construction programme is scheduled to be completed within 69 months.

Works will cover around 13.5 km of railway line No. 201 and 4.6 km of line No. 202. The programme includes track infrastructure, bridges and engineering structures, signalling, power and traction systems, roads, platforms and sanitary installations.

An additional third track will form an important part of the investment, while electrification and other infrastructure improvements are intended to increase the number of trains that can operate through the corridor.

Passenger infrastructure will also be expanded. Two new stops are planned alongside improvements to existing facilities, increasing the role of the route within the Tri-City metropolitan transport network.

The investment has wider significance for northern Poland because the corridor serves both passenger and freight traffic. Increasing railway capacity between Gdańsk and Gdynia should improve metropolitan connections while strengthening rail access associated with the Baltic ports.

The ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia have become increasingly important generators of logistics and industrial activity, creating demand for transport infrastructure capable of handling growing freight volumes. Improving rail connections can increase the proportion of cargo transported inland by train and reduce pressure on road infrastructure.

This gives the project a direct connection with the commercial property market. The Tri-City region has developed into one of Poland’s important logistics locations, supported by its ports, motorway and expressway connections and expanding warehouse and industrial base. Additional rail capacity can improve the attractiveness of sites serving port-related distribution and manufacturing operations.

The Gdańsk Osowa–Gdynia Główna section forms part of the wider modernisation of railway line 201. Improvements to the route are intended to provide greater capacity for freight services connecting the ports with Poland’s national rail network while accommodating growing metropolitan passenger demand.

The scale of the contract reflects the complexity of the programme. Rather than being limited to track replacement, the works involve extensive reconstruction and expansion of the corridor’s supporting infrastructure, including electrification, signalling and engineering structures.

The formal signing also removes an important element of procurement uncertainty surrounding this section of the investment. Following the cancellation of the earlier selection and the consortium’s subsequent reselection, the project can now progress towards implementation under the PLN 874.1 million agreement.

For the Tri-City region, the longer-term impact will depend on how the upgraded corridor integrates with the wider rail network and port infrastructure. Greater passenger capacity could improve access between residential and employment locations, while additional freight capacity could support further logistics and industrial investment around Gdańsk and Gdynia.

With the contract now concluded, the project moves from the procurement stage into a multi-year construction programme that will significantly expand railway capacity on one of the key transport corridors serving Poland’s northern metropolitan and port economy.

Czech Employers Rethink the Workplace as Employee Fatigue Tests the Return to Office

Czech employers are facing a growing workplace challenge in 2026 as companies encourage employees to spend more time in offices while significant numbers of workers report persistent fatigue, stress and difficulty separating their jobs from their private lives.

New research from Edenred Czech Republic indicates that almost one fifth of employees finish virtually every working day mentally or physically exhausted, while a further 28% experience this several times a week. Around one third of respondents also question whether they could maintain their present workload over the longer term. The Healthy Employee Index survey was conducted between 28 July and 4 August among 1,270 respondents.

The findings should not be interpreted as evidence that these employees are suffering from clinically diagnosed burnout. They do, however, point towards widespread pressure on employees’ ability to recover from work, a conclusion supported by other Czech and European workplace research.

A separate STEM survey released in August found that around three quarters of employed Czech respondents experienced work-related exhaustion at least occasionally, while a similar proportion described their work as stressful. About one third experienced stress frequently or continuously, and approximately one fifth said work significantly interfered with their private lives.

European occupational-safety research provides further evidence of the problem. EU-OSHA’s latest Czech employee findings showed that 31% of workers reported severe time pressure or excessive workloads. The research also identified organisational factors such as recognition, cooperation and employees’ willingness to discuss psychological difficulties with management as important elements of workplace wellbeing.

The boundary between employment and private life appears particularly important. More than half of respondents to Edenred’s research said they continued thinking about or dealing with their jobs outside their normal working hours several times a week.

The figures point towards a workplace issue that extends beyond conventional discussions about working from home or returning to the office. Employers increasingly need to consider how workload, management practices, working hours and the physical workplace interact.

Management quality appears particularly significant. Almost 96% of Edenred respondents believe employers should help establish conditions supporting psychological wellbeing, yet 34.3% said their immediate manager did not adequately address workload and employee wellbeing.

The issue is also becoming relevant to recruitment. More than 70% of respondents said an employer’s attitude towards mental wellbeing influenced their assessment of a potential new job.

This is consistent with broader evidence that Czech employees are placing greater importance on the relationship between their jobs and their lives outside work. Randstad’s 2026 Workmonitor found that 43% of Czech employees who had changed employer identified conflict between their working and private lives as a factor, compared with a global average of 39%. The research also indicated comparatively weaker confidence among Czech workers in management and company prospects.

For employers competing for skilled workers, wellbeing is consequently becoming part of the employment proposition alongside salary, career progression and traditional benefits.

What employees say they want provides some indication of where companies could respond. Around 59% of Edenred respondents favoured financial support that could be used for leisure or relaxation, while almost 46% wanted additional sick leave or days specifically available for psychological recovery. Approximately 24% wanted greater flexibility over working hours or opportunities to work from home.

Benefits alone, however, are unlikely to resolve problems created by the organisation of work. Edenred found that 50.6% of respondents identified tiredness after work as an obstacle to taking better care of their mental wellbeing, while 48.6% cited insufficient time.

This distinction is important. Providing counselling, fitness programmes, wellbeing applications or leisure allowances may have limited impact if employees lack sufficient time or energy to use them. Staffing levels, workload allocation, meeting culture, expectations surrounding availability outside normal hours and the behaviour of managers can be equally important.

Gallup’s 2026 Czech data provides another indication of the relationship between employees and their workplaces. Only 16% of Czech employees were classified as engaged at work. Although this was above the European average of 12%, it suggests considerable scope for companies to improve employees’ connection with their work and organisations.

For the commercial property sector, these trends add another dimension to the continuing emphasis on higher-quality offices.

Companies no longer need workplaces designed exclusively around five days of individual desk attendance. As flexible and hybrid arrangements have become established, the office increasingly needs to provide functions that are harder to reproduce elsewhere.

That changes the balance of space required within buildings. Quiet areas for concentrated work, smaller rooms for calls and virtual meetings, collaborative zones, informal meeting areas and spaces where employees can temporarily withdraw from continuous interaction can become more useful than simply maximising workstation density.

The physical environment can also contribute directly to employee wellbeing. Acoustics, air quality, natural light, temperature control and access to outdoor or relaxation areas influence comfort and concentration throughout the working day. These characteristics therefore have practical value beyond their role in environmental certification or corporate sustainability strategies.

European research into hybrid working reinforces the importance of management alongside workplace design. Eurofound has found that flexible working can improve work-life balance and productivity, but poorly organised arrangements can also result in longer hours, fewer breaks and weaker boundaries between work and private time. Employee autonomy, management practices and clear expectations are consequently important to whether flexible working produces benefits.

Office utilisation presents another challenge. Flexible attendance can result in buildings becoming heavily occupied during particular midweek periods while remaining relatively quiet on other days. Simply increasing attendance requirements without adjusting workplace planning can therefore create overcrowding at peak times without materially improving overall utilisation.

For landlords and developers, this broadens the definition of office quality. Energy efficiency, environmental certification, transport connections and location remain important, but occupiers increasingly need buildings capable of supporting different patterns of concentration, collaboration and social interaction.

The implications extend to asset management. Understanding when and how employees use a building can help owners and occupiers adjust meeting facilities, shared areas, services and amenities rather than treating occupancy purely as a measure of how many people enter the office.

The Czech evidence also suggests that workplace wellbeing should not be reduced to an amenities competition. A gym, roof terrace or relaxation room may improve an office, but physical facilities cannot compensate for consistently excessive workloads or management practices that prevent employees from disconnecting.

The emerging workplace question in Czechia during 2026 is therefore less about choosing between the office and home. It is about creating a working model in which physical space, flexibility and management practices support one another.

For employers, that means making office attendance worthwhile while addressing the workload and management issues contributing to employee fatigue. For property owners, it means providing adaptable buildings where occupiers can create environments suitable for concentration, collaboration and recovery.

With around one third of Edenred respondents questioning whether their current workload is sustainable, workplace quality is becoming more than an HR consideration. It increasingly affects recruitment, retention and the way companies select and use their offices.

The strongest workplaces of the next cycle may therefore be judged not simply by their occupancy levels or technical specifications, but by whether they help people work effectively without adding unnecessarily to the pressures they already experience.

BIG Poland Steps Up Regional Growth with Four New Retail Parks Due in 2026

BIG Poland is moving into a new phase of expansion as it combines acquisitions of established retail properties with the construction of new schemes in regional cities, increasing the scale and geographical reach of its Polish platform.

The company currently owns 13 retail parks with almost 258,000 sqm of combined GLA, following its entry into the Polish market in 2022. Its portfolio extends across Andrychów, Lubin, Łubna, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Ostróda, Włocławek, Myszków, Olsztyn, Suwałki, Koszalin, Dzierżoniów, Grodzisk Mazowiecki and Kielce. BIG Kielce strengthens its position following successful rebranding.docx Independent market reporting confirms the 13-asset portfolio and approximately 258,000 sqm of space.

The Kielce property is one of the latest additions. BIG Poland acquired the former Power Park Kielce in April and has now brought the property under its own brand. The asset on Radomska Street provides nearly 37,000 sqm of GLA and represents the company’s first investment in the Świętokrzyskie region. BIG Kielce strengthens its position following successful rebranding.docx

The property has an established large-format tenant base that includes Auchan, OBI, MediaMarkt, Decathlon, Jula, JYSK, TEDi, VIVE Profit and Abra, together with more than 1,000 surface parking spaces. BIG Kielce strengthens its position following successful rebranding.docx

Rather than treating the Kielce acquisition as an isolated transaction, BIG is using it as part of a wider strategy of increasing its presence outside Poland’s largest metropolitan markets. The company is simultaneously progressing four new retail developments in Piła, Olkusz, Konstantynów Łódzki and Bolesławiec, with construction underway and openings planned during the fourth quarter of 2026.

Piła represents a significant part of this pipeline. The project, being developed jointly by BIG Poland and Acteeum Group, is planned to provide around 38,000 sqm of GLA. Leasing had already exceeded 90% earlier this year, with operators including Agata, Media Expert, JYSK, Deichmann, Martes Sport and Super-Pharm among the brands committed to the scheme. More recent agreements have added Ochnik, Pepco, Xtreme Fitness and Xtreme Kids ahead of the planned Q4 opening.

Another project is taking shape in Konstantynów Łódzki, where BIG and Acteeum are developing a regional complex of approximately 21,000 sqm GLA. Leasing is close to completion and the opening is scheduled for October. The scheme will combine conventional retail with restaurants, fitness, medical services and other facilities, broadening the property’s role beyond straightforward comparison shopping.

The four developments will considerably broaden BIG’s footprint once completed. They also demonstrate a shift towards combining acquisitions of operating properties with purpose-built projects rather than relying on a single route to portfolio growth.

The strategy reflects the continued development of Poland’s regional retail park sector. Investors and developers have increasingly targeted formats serving everyday shopping and service requirements in smaller and medium-sized cities, where schemes can draw customers from both the immediate urban population and surrounding areas.

BIG’s existing portfolio illustrates that approach. Many of its assets are outside Warsaw and Poland’s other largest urban markets, giving the company exposure to regional locations ranging from Suwałki in the north-east to Dzierżoniów in Lower Silesia.

The company is also investing in properties already within its network. At BIG Ostróda, plans announced earlier this year involve approximately 4,000 sqm of additional retail space, alongside a new standalone restaurant.

Kielce fits into the other side of the strategy. Instead of constructing a new retail park, BIG acquired an operating property with an existing tenant base and has subsequently incorporated it into its wider platform. The new branding was introduced in August following the April acquisition, with the company reporting almost 10,000 visitors during the launch event on 22 August. BIG Kielce strengthens its position following successful rebranding.docx

The expansion is taking place against a stronger investment backdrop for Polish retail property. Sector transaction volumes exceeded EUR 1 billion during the first half of 2026, already surpassing the total recorded during 2025, while retail represented approximately one-third of Polish commercial real estate investment activity.

BIG Poland’s development programme therefore comes as capital is again becoming more active in the sector, while retail parks continue to attract investors looking beyond traditional enclosed shopping centres.

With 13 operating properties, extensions within the existing portfolio and four new regional projects progressing towards completion, the company’s Polish business is becoming substantially larger than when it entered the market four years ago.

The next stage will be determined by the delivery and leasing performance of the new developments. Piła, Olkusz, Konstantynów Łódzki and Bolesławiec will extend the portfolio into additional regional markets and increase the proportion of assets developed specifically for the BIG platform.

For Poland’s retail property sector, the expansion also underlines the continuing appeal of regional retail parks. Rather than growth being concentrated solely in the country’s biggest cities, investment is increasingly reaching locations where developers see opportunities to combine large catchment areas, everyday retail, services and accessible formats in markets with more limited modern retail supply.

New-Build Housing Costs Diverge Across CEE as Taxes, Fit-Out and Land Prices Complicate Comparisons

New-build housing markets in Budapest, Warsaw and Bucharest continue to show substantial differences in price, taxation, construction practice and rental economics, making simple price-per-square-metre comparisons increasingly misleading for cross-border buyers.

A regional analysis prepared by Cordia argues that Bucharest and several Polish cities remain cheaper than Budapest on selected new-build measures, but that buyers also need to account for fit-out costs, VAT, rental income, land pricing and local market conventions before comparing potential returns. How the new-build housing markets in Budapest, Warsaw and Bucharest differ – analysis.docx

Independent 2026 market data broadly supports the underlying conclusion, although several of Cordia’s individual figures require qualification.

In Budapest, Cordia put the average new-build price above HUF 1.9 million per sqm at the end of Q1 2026. Hungary’s central bank reports a slightly lower figure, with the average asking price of new homes in Budapest reaching HUF 1.85 million per sqm at the end of March. The MNB also reported a substantial increase in new housing supply, with 9,490 new homes available for purchase, the highest level in its series.

Warsaw remains Poland’s most expensive large new-build market, but here the type of price being compared matters. CBRE and Tabelaofert.pl put the average asking price of a new Warsaw apartment at PLN 19,358 per sqm at the end of Q1, up 6.4% year-on-year. Apartments actually sold during the quarter averaged a considerably lower PLN 17,449 per sqm. Newly launched projects averaged more than PLN 20,000 per sqm.

Cordia’s figure equivalent to roughly HUF 1.7 million per sqm therefore appears closer to the average price of apartments actually sold than to the average asking price across Warsaw’s entire new-build stock. Its broader observation that Polish new homes are commonly handed over unfinished is also relevant because buyers generally need to budget for interior completion before occupation or letting. How the new-build housing markets in Budapest, Warsaw and Bucharest differ – analysis.docx

Bucharest still offers a lower entry price than Budapest on several comparable measures, although independent data indicate that new-home prices have already moved significantly higher. Crosspoint put the average price of new Bucharest units at approximately EUR 2,540 per sqm in March 2026, while Imobiliare.ro reported average new-apartment asking prices approaching EUR 2,500 per sqm earlier in the year.

By July, Imobiliare.ro’s index showed new apartments in Bucharest averaging EUR 2,617 per sqm, 12.5% above the previous year. The figures support Cordia’s view that Bucharest remains less expensive than some competing regional capitals, but they also demonstrate that the pricing gap is narrowing as Romanian residential values continue to rise.

The investment comparison becomes more complicated once rental returns are considered. Cordia estimates gross rental yields of around 4.5% to 6% in Poland and 5% to 6% in Bucharest. These ranges are plausible in current market conditions, but they could not be independently verified as uniform market-wide averages from a sufficiently comparable professional 2026 dataset. They are better treated as Cordia’s indicative estimates, with actual returns varying materially according to location, unit size, purchase price and operating costs. How the new-build housing markets in Budapest, Warsaw and Bucharest differ – analysis.docx

That distinction matters because a relatively inexpensive apartment does not automatically provide the highest investment return. Warsaw combines high purchase costs with deep employment and rental demand, while cities such as Poznań offer lower entry prices. Bucharest combines lower acquisition costs with continued population and employment concentration in the capital, but investors face a different tax regime and market structure.

One area where the original analysis needs a clear factual correction concerns Romania’s VAT timetable.

Cordia states that Romanian VAT “returned to 21%” in August 2026. The 21% standard VAT rate actually took effect on 1 August 2025, not 2026. An exception allowed qualifying buyers who had entered into eligible purchase arrangements before the change to retain the previous 9% rate for homes delivered by 31 July 2026. From August 2026, that transitional window is effectively over for ordinary qualifying purchases. Romania’s tax authority confirms both the 21% standard rate and the transitional conditions.

Poland, by comparison, generally applies an 8% VAT rate to qualifying residential floor area up to 150 sqm, with the portion above the threshold subject to the standard 23% rate.

Hungary continues to offer a favourable reduced VAT regime for qualifying new residential development, although eligibility depends on the applicable project and transitional conditions. Cordia’s analysis uses a 5% rate for qualifying new homes, which remains broadly consistent with Hungary’s residential tax framework. How the new-build housing markets in Budapest, Warsaw and Bucharest differ – analysis.docx

The different tax treatment has a direct impact on apparent price comparisons. In some markets prices are quoted inclusive of VAT, while elsewhere project marketing can refer to net values, making headline figures difficult to compare without first standardising the tax basis.

Cordia also argues that land accounts for a much larger proportion of development cost in Warsaw than in Budapest or Bucharest. The company says Warsaw’s land-cost component per sellable square metre is more than twice that of the other two capitals, while construction costs in Warsaw and Bucharest are around 25% to one-third lower than in Budapest. How the new-build housing markets in Budapest, Warsaw and Bucharest differ – analysis.docx

These figures should be treated as developer-derived estimates rather than independent market benchmarks. They are directionally consistent with Cordia’s earlier published development-cost data, which also showed materially higher residential land costs in Warsaw than Budapest, but a current independent 2026 dataset using exactly the same methodology was not available for verification.

The wider point remains valid: development economics differ considerably across the three capitals. Construction specifications, planning procedures, financing, land availability and taxation all influence the final price paid by buyers.

The original analysis also contains one statement that should not be repeated. It says Poland is introducing energy-efficiency ratings for multi-unit residential buildings only in 2026 and describes the country as the last EU member state to do so.

That is incorrect. Poland has required energy-performance certificates for buildings and individual units in sale and rental transactions for years, with important amendments taking effect in April 2023. Polish legislation requires sellers and landlords to provide the relevant certificate to purchasers or tenants. The Ministry of Development explicitly described energy-performance certification in 2023 as an obligation that had already existed “for many years.”

Energy performance nevertheless remains increasingly relevant to residential values. Buyers across Europe are paying greater attention to operating costs, cooling, heating and overall building efficiency as energy prices and climate conditions affect household expenditure.

Cordia reports a particularly noticeable difference in cooling requirements between markets. The developer says air conditioning and effective cooling are increasingly expected in Budapest and Bucharest because of hotter summers, while the requirement is less pronounced in Poland, particularly in northern cities. How the new-build housing markets in Budapest, Warsaw and Bucharest differ – analysis.docx

Amenities are also becoming a greater differentiator. New developments are increasingly incorporating shared workspaces, lounges and communal areas, reflecting a wider shift away from viewing apartments purely as individual units and towards the quality of the overall residential environment. How the new-build housing markets in Budapest, Warsaw and Bucharest differ – analysis.docx

Cordia also compares the CEE markets with Spain’s Costa del Sol, where it reported an average price of EUR 7,220 per sqm in March for the segment it follows. That figure should not be interpreted as the average price across the whole Málaga or Costa del Sol residential market.

Idealista put the average asking price across Málaga city at EUR 3,898 per sqm in March 2026, while prices in the luxury markets of Marbella, Benahavís and Estepona can reach approximately EUR 6,000 to EUR 9,000 per sqm or considerably more in individual prime locations. Cordia’s EUR 7,220 figure is therefore credible for selected new-build or higher-end Costa del Sol stock, but not as a general market average.

Taken together, the comparison shows why cross-border residential investment cannot be reduced to a league table of headline apartment prices.

Budapest carries higher new-build values but benefits from a mature capital-city rental market and favourable VAT treatment for qualifying development. Warsaw combines expensive land and relatively high apartment prices with one of Central Europe’s deepest employment and rental markets, although buyers normally need to fund interior completion separately. Bucharest remains comparatively accessible but has experienced rapid price growth and now operates under a significantly higher standard VAT regime.

The same apartment price can therefore represent very different economics once taxes, finishing costs, rents, financing, operating costs and eventual resale liquidity are included.

For international buyers, the most meaningful comparison is not simply what one square metre costs. It is the total cost of acquiring and preparing the property, the income that can realistically be generated, the tax treatment and the depth of demand when the owner eventually wants to sell.

That produces a more complex picture than headline prices suggest, but also a more useful one for investors assessing increasingly diverse residential opportunities across Central and Eastern Europe.

Poland’s Warehouse Market Tightens as Leasing Accelerates and New Development Slows

Poland’s industrial and logistics property market strengthened during the first half of 2026 as companies increased their demand for warehouse space while developers maintained a cautious approach to new construction. The combination has started to reduce available space across several of the country’s principal logistics locations.

Modern industrial and logistics stock reached approximately 38 million sqm at the end of June, representing annual growth of around 5.5%. More than 1.23 million sqm of new space was completed during the first six months of the year, while approximately 1.30 million sqm remained under construction at the end of the period. These figures are independently consistent across AXI IMMO and CBRE’s mid-year data.

The development pipeline has contracted despite the continuing expansion of the overall market. AXI IMMO calculates that construction activity was 11% below the level recorded a year earlier and had fallen to its lowest point in more than nine years. Developers are increasingly reluctant to start projects without commitments from occupiers, leaving speculative space representing less than 40% of the current pipeline.

This represents a significant change from the expansionary phase of Poland’s logistics market, when large amounts of warehouse space were regularly started without tenants already secured. Higher development and financing costs, combined with greater economic uncertainty, have encouraged developers to place more emphasis on pre-leasing before committing capital to construction.

The more cautious supply environment coincides with a substantial improvement in occupier activity. Companies leased approximately 3.51 million sqm during H1 2026, around 21% more than during the corresponding period of 2025. This made the first six months of the year the second strongest first-half leasing period recorded in the Polish market, behind only 2022.

More importantly, the composition of leasing activity has changed. New agreements and expansions accounted for around 60% of transactions, with net demand increasing by approximately 58% year-on-year to more than 2.1 million sqm. This contrasts with 2025, when lease renewals represented more than half of annual take-up and were a major contributor to the headline leasing figures.

The change suggests that occupiers are moving beyond simply retaining existing warehouses and are again making decisions involving expansion, relocation and distribution-network restructuring. The recovery was already visible during the first quarter, when leasing reached approximately 1.58 million sqm and new agreements and expansions increased strongly compared with the previous year.

Demand is being supported by logistics operators, retailers, distribution companies and international e-commerce businesses. Poland’s combination of a large domestic consumer market, established logistics infrastructure and access to Western and Central European markets continues to support its position as one of the region’s principal distribution locations.

The improvement in leasing has begun to affect vacancy. The national vacancy rate declined from approximately 7.3% at the end of March to 6.3% at the end of June. Compared with the same period of 2025, the mid-year figure was lower by around 1.8 percentage points.

The decline is particularly relevant for companies requiring larger facilities. Availability of substantial warehouse units is becoming more limited in selected locations, meaning occupiers seeking large amounts of contiguous space may increasingly need to consider developments that have yet to be constructed rather than choosing from immediately available buildings.

Regional activity remains spread across Poland’s principal logistics markets rather than being concentrated around Warsaw. Silesia, Lower Silesia, Central Poland, the Warsaw region and Wielkopolska all recorded substantial leasing volumes during the first half, reflecting the increasingly decentralised structure of the country’s logistics network.

Poland is also moving somewhat differently from the wider European market. CBRE reports that leasing across Europe’s ten largest logistics markets increased by around 15% year-on-year during H1 2026, but overall European vacancy continued to edge higher. Poland and Spain were the two major markets where vacancy declined on an annual basis.

Restricted speculative construction is contributing to this divergence. Across Europe, speculative space under construction has fallen substantially from the levels reached during the logistics-market boom in 2022. Poland is following the same development discipline while experiencing a stronger rebound in new occupier demand.

Investment activity is also recovering. Transactions involving Polish industrial and logistics properties reached approximately EUR 782 million during the first half of 2026, according to AXI IMMO, an increase of 13% compared with the previous year. The sector represented roughly one quarter of commercial property investment in Poland during the period.

The return of larger portfolio transactions has contributed to investment volume, while capital remains particularly interested in modern logistics assets offering established tenants and longer income profiles. Properties developed for specific occupiers and facilities serving distribution networks also remain attractive to investors seeking comparatively defensive income.

The underlying market balance has therefore shifted noticeably since the end of 2025. At that point, Poland had approximately 36.6 million sqm of modern warehouse stock and vacancy of around 7.4%, while lease renewals were dominating occupier activity. Six months later, stock has expanded to around 38 million sqm, but stronger demand has nevertheless pushed vacancy lower.

The relationship between leasing and construction will now be one of the main indicators to watch during the remainder of 2026. If new demand remains strong while developers continue to limit speculative starts, available space could tighten further in the most active logistics corridors.

That could gradually strengthen landlords’ negotiating positions and create upward pressure on rents for larger or better-located facilities. It could also encourage developers to reconsider speculative projects once they become confident that new supply can be absorbed.

Poland’s warehouse market is therefore entering the second half of 2026 with stronger occupier fundamentals than a year ago. Demand is increasingly being generated by new commitments rather than renewals, vacancy is falling and construction remains controlled. For a market that already contains around 38 million sqm of modern space, the next phase of growth may be defined less by how much developers can build and more by how quickly suitable new space can be delivered to meet recovering demand.

Romania’s New Planning Code Brings Greater Certainty but New Costs for Property Development

fletcher@cijeurope.com
24 August 2026
Construction, Indicators, Infrastructure, Residential

Romania’s new Territorial Planning, Urbanism and Construction Code introduces a significant overhaul of the country’s development framework, bringing planning, construction approvals and infrastructure obligations under a more integrated system. For property investors and developers, the reform promises clearer rules but also tighter development parameters and potentially higher infrastructure-related costs.

Law No. 169/2026 enters into force on 25 August 2026, following its publication in the Official Gazette earlier this month. The legislation replaces substantial parts of the existing planning and construction framework and introduces changes affecting landowners, developers, investors, lenders and municipalities.

One of the most significant provisions concerns the ability to alter development parameters through Zonal Urban Plans, or PUZs. Under the new framework, privately initiated plans can continue to modify existing parameters, but increases in the principal land-use indicators POT and CUT will generally be restricted to 20% above the existing approved level, normally on a one-off basis. In protected areas, the permitted increase is limited further, while areas with a CUT above 4 must generally be established through the General Urban Plan rather than project-level zoning.

The change does not eliminate the possibility of increasing density through a PUZ, but it places considerably tighter boundaries around the process. For the property market, this could affect sites whose valuations have been based partly on expectations that substantially greater development potential could be secured later through planning amendments.

Conversely, land that already carries favourable development parameters could become relatively more attractive if future density increases become harder to obtain.

Mauricio Mesa Gomez, Chairman of the Board of Cordia Romania and Spain, argues that institutional investors may accept reduced flexibility if the new system produces more predictable development outcomes.

“From our international experience, predictability almost always outweighs flexibility. For investors, developers and financiers, it is more important to have clear and stable rules than the possibility of constant adjustments from one project to another,” he said. Mauricio Mesa Gomez CATUC opinion EN.docx

The practical effect on land prices is unlikely to be uniform. Sites with established planning rights could benefit from greater certainty, while properties whose investment case relies heavily on obtaining substantially higher density could require more conservative underwriting.

The legislation also changes the relationship between private development and the infrastructure required to support it.

Local authorities will be able to negotiate urbanisation or restructuring agreements with developers in connection with PUZs. These arrangements can establish how additional infrastructure associated with development is funded, alongside minimum obligations concerning utilities and access.

This creates a more formal mechanism through which the cost of urban growth can be divided between municipalities and private developers. It may improve clarity around responsibilities, but it also means infrastructure expenditure will need to feature more prominently in land acquisition and development appraisals.

Separate from these negotiated obligations, the Code establishes the basis for a local territory-equipment charge intended to help finance infrastructure associated with development. Potential uses include transport networks, utilities, schools, healthcare and social facilities, environmental improvements and other public infrastructure.

The detailed fiscal treatment remains an important area to watch. Further changes to Romania’s fiscal framework are required to implement parts of the mechanism, meaning developers will need to monitor how individual municipalities translate the provisions into actual charges.

This creates one of the principal uncertainties surrounding the reform. Greater clarity over planning parameters may improve the ability to assess what can be built, but project economics will also depend on whether infrastructure contributions can be calculated sufficiently early and consistently.

Gomez said this was more important to investors than the principle of making a contribution itself.

“The issue is not the existence of the contribution itself, but its predictability. Investors need to be able to assess project-related costs from the very beginning,” he said. Mauricio Mesa Gomez CATUC opinion EN.docx

For lenders and investors, this could translate into more detailed due diligence before land acquisitions and financing decisions. Planning status, infrastructure obligations, potential local charges and the procedural stage reached by a project are likely to become increasingly important components of development risk assessments.

Another significant element of the reform concerns administrative procedures. The Code envisages greater digitalisation of planning and permitting, increased use of GIS information and more integrated approval mechanisms intended to reduce the fragmented process through which developers currently obtain approvals from multiple authorities and utilities.

The objective is potentially important for a market where planning and permitting times have frequently affected development schedules. Whether the new arrangements produce faster or more predictable approvals will depend on the administrative capacity of municipalities and the consistency with which the system is implemented.

That distinction is particularly relevant during the initial implementation period. The legislation enters into force before every element of the new administrative and fiscal framework is fully operational, leaving authorities to adapt procedures and establish new mechanisms while development applications continue to move through the system.

Projects already underway receive important transitional protection.

Planning procedures formally initiated before 25 August 2026 generally remain subject to the legislation applicable when those procedures began. Existing urbanism certificates also retain their validity, allowing qualifying developments already progressing through the system to avoid automatically being transferred to the new planning regime.

For investors acquiring projects or development sites during this transition, establishing exactly when a planning procedure legally commenced could therefore become critical. The existence of design work, negotiations or preliminary studies alone may not necessarily establish which legal regime applies.

Existing General Urban Plans also continue temporarily, while municipalities with older plans are required to update them within the timetable established by the new legislation.

Bucharest faces an additional longer-term administrative change. Certain planning and authorisation responsibilities currently exercised at sector level are due to transfer to the General Municipality from November 2028, potentially altering how projects in the capital navigate the approval process.

Taken together, the reforms represent more than a tightening of development density. They attempt to reorganise the relationship between land-use planning, construction approvals, infrastructure provision and public administration.

For developers, the changes could reduce some of the flexibility previously available when seeking additional development potential. Infrastructure obligations and local charges may also affect residual land values and the financial viability of projects, particularly where margins are already under pressure from construction and financing costs.

Municipalities, meanwhile, could gain stronger mechanisms for ensuring that private development contributes towards the roads, utilities and public facilities required by urban expansion. The challenge will be applying those mechanisms consistently without making development costs or approval procedures less predictable.

For investors, the potential benefit is greater planning certainty, although whether this outweighs tighter development parameters and additional infrastructure obligations will depend on how consistently the framework is applied.

The immediate effect is therefore likely to be greater scrutiny of planning status and development assumptions. Sites with established rights and projects protected by transitional arrangements could carry a different risk profile from land where future value depends substantially on planning changes.

Romania’s planning reform ultimately represents both an attempt to make development rules more predictable and a significant redistribution of responsibilities between developers and public authorities. For investors, the immediate priority will be determining how the new density limits, infrastructure obligations and transitional provisions affect individual sites and projects.

The longer-term test will be whether municipalities can apply the framework consistently enough to reduce planning uncertainty without introducing another layer of cost and administrative complexity.

Copenhagen Prime Office Rents Rise as Denmark Investment Market Gradually Recovers

Denmark’s office investment market continued its gradual recovery during the second quarter of 2026, while competition for high-quality space in Copenhagen supported higher prime rents despite greater caution among occupiers, according to CBRE.

Office investment transactions reached DKK 3.4 billion during the first half of 2026, representing a 10% increase compared with the same period last year. However, CBRE said overall activity remains relatively subdued despite the improvement. Offices accounted for 11% of total Danish commercial real estate investment volume during the period.

A total of 96 office transactions above CBRE’s DKK 5 million threshold were recorded during H1, with the largest individual transaction valued at approximately DKK 0.5 billion. Copenhagen dominated activity, accounting for 73% of transaction volume, compared with 3% in Aarhus and 24% across other locations, according to the chart on page one of the report.

Prime office yields remained unchanged quarter-on-quarter at 4.25%. CBRE noted that Danish prime yields remain comparatively low against several larger European markets, including London at 4.00%, Paris at 4.35% and Amsterdam at 4.70%. The consultancy said this can make Danish offices relatively expensive for international investors able to obtain higher returns in larger and more liquid markets.

The largest office transaction during Q2 was BRF Fonden’s acquisition of Nørregade 7A. Another notable deal involved the office property at Kronprinsensgade 8, which was acquired by domestic investors.

Conditions in Copenhagen’s occupier market show a growing distinction between the best office properties and the wider market. CBRE identifies the continued move towards higher-quality buildings and locations as a dominant trend, with competition for prime space supporting stronger headline rents in Copenhagen.

Prime Copenhagen city office rents increased to DKK 2,500 per sqm, while the vacancy rate stood at 5.9% in Q1 2026, compared with 5.3% a year earlier. Approximately 18,000 sqm of office space was completed during Q2, while only 5,000 sqm was under construction during the quarter.

The development chart on page two shows a considerably larger overall pipeline when projects at different stages and locations are included, but it is heavily concentrated in a small number of Copenhagen submarkets. North Harbour has the largest combination of pre-let and speculative space, followed by Østerbro, Inner City and South Harbour. The chart also indicates that a significant proportion of space in North Harbour and Inner City remains speculative.

Occupiers nevertheless have greater negotiating power outside the most competitive locations. CBRE said increasing corporate caution and slower market activity are contributing to larger rental discounts, while lease negotiations are taking longer as companies scrutinise property costs more closely. Flexibility and cost control have consequently become more important factors in leasing decisions.

At the same time, increasing office attendance could provide additional support for demand. CBRE reports that employers across the Nordic region are expanding requirements for employees to spend time in the office and placing greater emphasis on physical collaboration. Higher workplace utilisation could strengthen demand for modern offices capable of supporting these working patterns.

The Q2 figures therefore point to an increasingly divided Copenhagen office market. Investment activity is recovering gradually, but transaction volumes remain below stronger historical levels, while the occupational market is becoming more selective.

Prime rents are rising as companies compete for better buildings and locations, even as overall vacancy has increased and occupiers gain greater negotiating leverage elsewhere. With limited immediate construction activity and demand increasingly concentrated on higher-quality workplaces, the performance gap between prime offices and less competitive stock could become an increasingly important feature of Copenhagen’s market through the remainder of 2026.

Skanska Wins CZK 2.1 Billion Contract for Major Prague Data Centre

Skanska has secured a CZK 2.1 billion contract, equivalent to approximately SEK 930 million, to construct the Prague Gateway DC data centre for CRA Prague Gateway DC on the outskirts of the Czech capital. The contract will be included in Skanska’s European order intake for the third quarter of 2026.

The construction contract covers the building itself together with non-IT technologies. Initial works will include site infrastructure, foundations and the precast concrete structural frame. Skanska is starting work in August, with completion of its contract scheduled for 2028.

The project is considerably larger than the construction contract announcement alone suggests. Prague Gateway DC is being developed by České Radiokomunikace (CRA) in the Zbraslav-Jíloviště area, on land previously used for AM radio transmission infrastructure. CRA Prague Gateway DC, the company commissioning Skanska, is wholly owned by CRA.

When fully developed, the campus is planned to provide more than 2,000 server racks across 12 data halls, with more than 4,000 sqm of data-hall space and an electricity supply of 26 MW. Development is being undertaken in phases.

The first building is designed for almost 700 racks and is intended to accommodate both Czech and international customers requiring high computing capacity. CRA has identified artificial intelligence workloads, including the training of large AI models, among the applications the facility is being designed to support.

The investment comes as rising demand for cloud services, AI computing and high-performance GPU infrastructure changes the technical requirements of data centres. CRA said earlier this year that greater computing intensity is increasing requirements for power density, cooling, energy efficiency and the ability of facilities to accommodate future generations of hardware.

Prague Gateway DC could also eventually have a role in the proposed Czech AI Gigafactory initiative. CRA has previously submitted the facility as part of the country’s AI Gigafactory plans, although the company has stressed that development of the data centre is proceeding independently of whether that initiative goes ahead.

The latest information from CRA indicates that the first capacity is expected to become available at the beginning of 2028. Earlier project announcements had anticipated initial customers during 2027, indicating that the delivery timetable has subsequently moved.

The project forms part of a broader expansion of CRA’s data-centre operations. The company already operates facilities in Prague as well as Brno, Ostrava, Pardubice, Zlín and Lužice, and has been increasing capacity as demand for computing infrastructure grows.

Prague Gateway DC will substantially increase that platform while adding a new category of higher-capacity infrastructure capable of supporting increasingly power-intensive computing.

For the Czech commercial property and construction markets, the CZK 2.1 billion Skanska contract also illustrates the growing importance of data centres as a specialist development sector. Unlike conventional logistics or office buildings, a significant proportion of investment is directed towards power, cooling, resilience and other technical infrastructure rather than the building structure alone.

Construction is now moving into its next stage following preparatory work that began previously at the site. With the main Skanska programme running through 2028, Prague Gateway DC is set to become one of the Czech Republic’s largest additions of purpose-built digital infrastructure as demand for AI, cloud and high-performance computing capacity continues to increase.

Welcome to New York, Where Your Hotel Room Comes With Several Invisible Friends

Booking a hotel room in New York is a wonderfully optimistic experience. You find a room, look at the price and think, “That’s actually not too bad.” This is your first mistake. The figure on the screen is not so much a price as an opening suggestion. New York has not finished with you yet. Take a perfectly ordinary five-night stay where the nightly rates bounce cheerfully between about USD 132 and USD 281, eventually producing a room total of roughly USD 1,037. Excellent. You have a hotel room in New York for just over a thousand dollars. Congratulations. Then you continue towards the final booking page and discover that several government departments would also apparently like to stay with you.

By the time everybody has joined the holiday, the bill is approximately USD 1,207. You haven’t upgraded the room. Nobody has delivered champagne. There isn’t suddenly another bed. You have simply acquired about USD 170 of taxes. First through the door is the New York City hotel charge of roughly 5.875%, adding about USD 61 to our example. You might reasonably think that having paid a tax specifically for possessing a bed in New York City, your fiscal obligations towards the bed would now be complete. Absolutely not. Next comes the 8.875% combined sales tax, adding roughly another USD 92. Hotel booking systems occasionally describe this as a “state tax”, which makes everything beautifully simple except for the minor inconvenience that it isn’t entirely a state tax. It includes state, city and metropolitan elements. But why ruin a perfectly good booking page with clarity?

At this stage, you’ve added almost 15% to the price of the room. Surely everybody is happy now. Not quite. New York also has fixed hotel charges amounting to USD 3.50 per room per night. Stay five nights and that’s another USD 17.50. Individually it doesn’t sound particularly frightening. Neither does a mosquito until you realise you’ve been locked in a bedroom with seventeen of them.

The booking confirmation may helpfully divide all this into wonderfully mysterious categories such as “CITY TAX”, “STATE TAX”, “CONVENTION TAX” and “OCCUPANCY TAX”. It begins to look less like a hotel reservation and more like you’re personally financing municipal government. The convention-related charge is particularly entertaining if you’re not attending a convention. Perhaps somewhere in Manhattan there is a conference taking place in your honour. You will never meet these people, but it’s reassuring to know you’ve contributed. Then there is the occupancy charge, essentially a tax connected with actually occupying the hotel room you’ve already paid to occupy. One suspects that standing quietly in the corridor all night would also eventually attract a fee.

The important point is that these are mostly government charges rather than the hotel simply slipping another USD 170 into its pocket. Hotels have their own creative vocabulary for extracting additional money, including destination fees, facility fees, amenity fees and the magnificent American institution known as the resort fee. The resort fee deserves special admiration. You can occasionally encounter something resembling a resort charge at an urban hotel where the nearest coconut tree is approximately 1,500 miles away. In exchange, you may receive such exotic luxuries as Wi-Fi, access to a gym containing three treadmills and perhaps the spiritual knowledge that somewhere downstairs there is a water dispenser.

US regulators eventually noticed that advertising a USD 200 hotel room and later revealing that it also carried an unavoidable USD 40 property fee was perhaps not the pinnacle of transparent capitalism. Rules introduced in 2025 require mandatory hotel-imposed charges to be incorporated more prominently into the advertised total. Government taxes, however, are another matter. They can still sit outside the initial figure and join the booking later, provided they are disclosed before you finally hand over the money.

For Europeans, this requires a small psychological adjustment. Book a hotel in much of Europe and the displayed consumer price generally already contains VAT. If the screen says EUR 200, there is a reasonable chance that EUR 200 bears some relationship to the amount you are actually going to pay. New York prefers suspense. European cities certainly have tourist taxes. Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin and plenty of others will happily request a few additional euros for the privilege of sleeping within their boundaries. But VAT is generally already sitting inside the advertised price rather than hiding behind a digital curtain waiting for the checkout page.

America approaches prices differently. Walk into a shop, see something marked USD 20 and take USD 20 to the till and you will immediately discover that mathematics has changed since you entered the building. Sales tax arrives afterwards. Restaurants operate similarly. Hotels simply take the concept, add several additional layers and give everything impressive names. New York’s hotel system is particularly effective because the taxes rise along with the room price. Find a USD 150 room and the government receives its percentage. Book a USD 500 room and everyone celebrates your success together.

This becomes especially noticeable when New York hotel prices suddenly leap because a major concert has arrived, the UN General Assembly is meeting, somebody has organised a gigantic convention or approximately fourteen million people have simultaneously decided that October would be a lovely time to visit Manhattan. Your USD 250 room becomes USD 450, but fortunately the taxes automatically increase as well. Nobody needs to fill in a form. Technology really is marvellous.

The sensible traveller therefore learns to ignore the enormous attractive number appearing first on the hotel website. That is merely the opening act. Keep clicking. Eventually you will reach the number that matters: the amount actually leaving your bank account. This also explains why comparing New York hotels purely by nightly rates can become an entertaining waste of time. Hotel A might advertise USD 220. Hotel B says USD 235. Hotel A therefore appears cheaper until everybody introduces their taxes and mandatory charges and suddenly Hotel B is looking rather respectable.

The safest approach is to compare the complete stay price after everything unavoidable has been included. Taxes, destination charges, facility fees and whatever other financial wildlife is living underneath the booking should all be considered before declaring you’ve found a bargain. None of this means New York hotels are necessarily behaving dishonestly. Most of the tax money is being collected because the law requires it. The problem is simply that the first number your brain sees isn’t necessarily the number your wallet eventually experiences.

So when a New York hotel website announces that your room costs USD 200, don’t become emotionally attached to it. Think of USD 200 as a promising young number with its whole life ahead of it. It will grow.

Author: Mitzilinka (Turning grim reality into comic relief—without losing the truth)

Mexico Housing Prices Keep Climbing as Affordability Becomes the Bigger Challenge

Mexico’s residential market continued to record rising property values during the second quarter of 2026, although the pace of growth moderated compared with the beginning of the year. Housing demand remains supported by demographic pressures and the continuing need for homes in the country’s major cities, but high borrowing costs and a shortage of appropriately priced properties are making affordability an increasingly important constraint.

Residential prices increased by approximately 7.3% nationally compared with the second quarter of 2025. During the first six months of the year, the increase reached 7.9%, remaining well above general inflation. The pace nevertheless slowed from the annual increase of 8.7% recorded during the first quarter, suggesting that the market is gradually moving away from the stronger price growth seen during the previous phase of the cycle.

Newly built properties continued to increase in value slightly faster than existing homes. During the first half of 2026, prices for new housing rose approximately 8.3%, while existing properties increased 7.5%. Detached houses recorded growth of around 8.4%, compared with 7.4% for apartments and condominium properties.

The strongest increases were recorded at the less expensive end of the market. Housing aimed at lower-income buyers increased in value by approximately 10% during the first half of the year, compared with around 6.7% for middle and higher-priced residential categories. This is particularly significant because it means the greatest pressure is occurring in the part of the market where households generally have the least capacity to absorb higher purchase prices.

The average assessed value of homes purchased with mortgage financing reached approximately MXN 1.96 million during the first six months of the year. The median was considerably lower at around MXN 1.30 million, demonstrating the wide variation in housing values across the country and the influence of more expensive transactions on national averages.

Approximately one quarter of financed residential transactions involved properties valued below MXN 843,000, while three quarters were below approximately MXN 2.23 million. The figures illustrate the scale of Mexico’s lower and middle-income housing market and why increases in this segment have significant implications for overall affordability.

Price movements also varied substantially between cities. Guadalajara recorded one of the strongest increases among the major metropolitan markets, with residential values rising approximately 11.1% during the first half of 2026. Tijuana followed at around 9.7%, while Puebla-Tlaxcala recorded approximately 8.5%, Monterrey 8.3% and León 7.9%.

Growth was more moderate in Querétaro at approximately 5.6% and Toluca at 5.1%. The Valley of Mexico, including Mexico City and its surrounding metropolitan area, recorded an increase of around 4.6%, significantly below the national rate.

The slower increase around Mexico City does not necessarily indicate weak housing demand. The capital is already one of the country’s most expensive residential markets, meaning affordability places a greater restriction on how quickly prices can continue increasing. Limited development opportunities in central areas, high land costs and strong demand for well-connected neighbourhoods continue to support property values.

Mexico City also illustrates a wider problem affecting the national residential market. Demand for housing remains considerable, but the homes being produced are not always located or priced where the greatest need exists. This is particularly important for middle and lower-income households that need access to employment centres but increasingly struggle to purchase properties within reasonable commuting distances.

Mortgage costs remain another major obstacle. Average residential borrowing rates stood at approximately 11.42% during the second quarter. Although monetary conditions have begun to ease, mortgage finance remains expensive compared with the purchasing power of many Mexican households.

High interest rates have a particularly strong impact when combined with several years of rising property values. Buyers must provide larger deposits while also financing more expensive homes at relatively high borrowing costs. This limits the number of households capable of converting underlying housing demand into completed purchases.

Mortgage lending has nevertheless remained active. Banking data towards the end of the second quarter indicated continued growth in housing loan portfolios at some of the country’s largest financial institutions. This suggests that financing conditions have slowed demand rather than bringing the market to a standstill.

The supply side is also beginning to improve following several years of weaker construction. Mexico’s available housing inventory increased substantially during 2025, reaching approximately 269,000 units, around 35% more than a year earlier. The increase indicates that developers have started rebuilding the supply of homes available for purchase.

Greater inventory alone, however, does not resolve Mexico’s housing challenge. A substantial proportion of demand is concentrated among households that require relatively affordable properties, while development economics frequently favour more expensive projects. Land prices, construction costs, infrastructure requirements and financing expenses make it difficult to deliver new homes at prices accessible to lower-income buyers.

This imbalance is particularly visible in large metropolitan areas. Developers can often achieve better returns by concentrating on smaller apartments or higher-value residential schemes, while the largest unmet requirement remains housing affordable to workers and families.

The existing-home market consequently plays an increasingly important role. In expensive cities such as Mexico City, previously occupied properties can provide alternatives where limited land and high construction costs restrict new development. Renovation and redevelopment of older residential stock may therefore become a larger part of the housing market as cities become denser.

Regional differences are also becoming more important. Guadalajara, Tijuana and Monterrey continue to experience stronger price growth than the Valley of Mexico, reflecting different combinations of employment creation, industrial investment, migration, housing availability and population growth.

Industrial expansion is particularly relevant in several regional markets. Manufacturing and logistics investment has increased employment and attracted workers to cities in northern and central Mexico, creating additional housing requirements close to major employment centres. Where residential construction has not kept pace, this can place further upward pressure on prices and rents.

For developers, the opportunity remains considerable, but the challenge is increasingly one of affordability rather than simply demand. Mexico has a large population, continuing household formation and significant housing requirements, yet the gap between household incomes and property prices limits the number of buyers able to access conventional mortgage finance.

The second half of 2026 is therefore likely to bring further residential price increases, although probably at a more moderate pace than during the strongest recent years. Lower interest rates could gradually improve purchasing conditions, but any benefit may be partly offset if property values continue rising faster than household incomes.

Mexico’s residential market is consequently entering a more complicated phase. Demand remains substantial, construction is recovering in selected locations and property values continue to increase, but the ability of households to purchase those homes is becoming the central issue.

The greatest challenge is no longer simply producing more housing. It is delivering homes at prices that match local incomes, in locations where people can realistically reach employment, transport and services. Until that gap narrows, Mexico is likely to continue experiencing the unusual combination of strong underlying housing demand and an increasing number of households unable to afford the properties the market produces.

Research & Analysis: CIJ.World

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