Retail in Central and Eastern Europe is holding up as economic growth continues in the region, according to King Sturge.
The Baltic states, particularly Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the Czech Republic and Poland are forecast for an acceleration in retail sales growth, according to King Sturge's Central & Eastern Europe Retail World report.
The report predicts that Latvia will see a rise of up to 82% in retail sales over the next decade. Poland is set for 44% growth, and the Czech Republic 45%, the report found. However Hungary is likely to see a growth slowdown. Consumer confidence has bee dented by Government finances but the slowdown is expected to be a one or two year blip rather than permanent.
The report also found that large retailers have been quick to recognise the potential of these markets, so multinationals make up large chunks of the market. For example in the Czech Republic, multinationals make up 60% of retail sales.
On the investment side, rapid yield compression has led to a lot of overseas investment. Almost 100% of the buyers in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia are overseas. This is likely to continue.
'Although property investment markets have suffered a severe downturn in many mature markets, especially the UK, Central and Eastern Europe have thus far proved relatively immune. Broadly speaking, there is still investor demand,' the report concluded.
A number of retail parks in Eastern Europe are attracting big names. These include French supermarket giant Carrefour, Decathlon, Marks & Spencer, Debenhams and Next, all of whom are in discussions over the Colosseum Centre in Bucharest.