The View 9

19

2019 Acquisition / Disposal Volume by Investor Origin

Source: CBRE Research

CHANGING CAPITAL SOURCES The strong dominance of Hungarian investors in H2 raised their share from the total 2019 investment volume to 74%, which marked the highest domestic share from annual turnover on record. The second half of the year saw Hungarian investors close 24 transactions at an average ticket size of ca. EUR 38 million, which is somewhat lower than during the corresponding period in 2018, but a historically high reading, nevertheless. Seven of the ten largest deals of the period were signed by domestic investors. A continuing trend in H2 was the shift in deal-making from the local open-ended funds – who were the undisputed dominant force on the market over the last years – to closed-ended investment vehicles and private property companies. The recent acquisitions by OTP REF seem to refute this, but those processes were initiated long ahead and the open-ended funds’ new deal sourcing has noticeably waned since the introduction of the MÁP-Plusz state bond that offers supreme returns to domestic individual investors. Although cross-border investment has seen more active days, there were notable moves by foreign investors in H2 as well. Amongst them were two newmarket entrants; JR AMC finally placed South Korea on themap as a new capital sourcing country, while the investment company CNIC is the second Chinese entity to complete an acquisition in Hungary. In addition to these newcomers, the end of the year also brought the re-entry of CBRE Global Investors after their exit nearly three years ago. Overall, foreign investors closed seven deals in the second half of the year, at a modest average ticket size of EUR 28 million.