Real Estate Trends for 2017 in the Czech Republic

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OFFICE: The Resilient Workplace by Mr. Tamás Kovács (Steelcase)

For business leaders who are focused on growth, employee engagement is a critical issue that must be improved. We believe the way to solve this is to see the office not as a location, but a destination”, said Mr. Kovács.

It´s a well-known fact that physical surroundings can shape people’s behaviors and attitudes about their overall experience at work. At Steelcase they wanted to go deeper to really understand the issue of engagement of people at work, so they conducted a study which uncovered five key insights about the factors that impact workplace satisfaction and employee wellbeing which are leading to employee engagement.

1. More than one in three workers is disengaged.
2. Employee engagement positively correlates with workplace satisfaction.
3. Engaged employees have more control over their experiences at work.
4. Fixed technology exceeds mobile 2:1.
5. Traditional work styles persist.

“Work is changing. People need to work in different ways at different times and organizations must keep up with those changing ways of work. In order to do so, they should strive to build the Resilient Workplace”, claimed Mr. Kovács.

Read further to find out more about employee engagement and what is meant by “the Resilient Workplace”.

RETAIL: Future of shopping centre development by Katarína Brydone (CBRE)

After long years of rapid development which started in the 1990s and continued through the following decade, the development boom slowed down with the crisis in 2009 and then came to an end in 2011, which was the first year in which not a single new large retail centre was opened.

At the moment, we have more than2,3 million square metres of large-scale shopping centres which are made up of some 120 shopping centres. More than half of those, are older than 10 year, which creates a strong case for their repositioning or redesign.

“What is also changing nowadays is the shoppers’ preference of the location, as customers are no longer willing to travel more than 15 minutes until they reach their shopping destination. Location is what matters. This trend supports development or extension in centrally located sites, as well as local centres, and support case of new development in smaller cities”, added Mrs. Brydone.  On the other hand, we also see a growing importance of comfort and having everything under one roof for shoppers. This trends has been recognised by owners of large dominant centres.

What are the latest retail trends?

• Diversification – Among the biggest reconstruction projects of 2017 is the enlargement of Prague’s Centrum Chodov by additional 40,000 square meters. What is this shopping centre known for? Thanks to its big fashion shows, special brands, free stylist services, fashion corner. Chodov is proudly claiming: “We are the fashion destination for you.”
• Common Areas / Leisure and Entertainment – In other words, quality time spent. For example, men, husbands, boyfriends usually don’t want to spend their time in a shopping centre. One solution could be a gentleman´s area or a relax zone for men where they can watch football and have a coffee while their wives are shopping fiercely. As for families, children's corners and relax rooms, children’s toilets, breast feeding rooms for mums are becoming a standard.

Click here to discover other retail trends, as well as what is the position of shopping centres vs. e-commerce.

RESIDENTIAL: Interview with Petr Hána (Deloitte Advisory) on Residential Market Trends

As for administrative interventions, what was the reaction in apartment prices once the Czech National Bank tightened mortgage conditions in autumn 2016 and people had to have at least a 5% down-payment?

At the end of last year, there were three changes that affected the housing market – the new act on consumer loans, change of payer of the property acquisition tax and recommendation of the Czech National Bank to restrict mortgage lending.

However, these changes were not mutually coordinated. On their own, probably none of them would have a significant impact on the market, but since all three of them occurred within a short period of time, it can certainly be expected that they will shake up the market.

Administrative interventions generally create significant pressure on growth of real estate prices.  The problem with these changes is, however, that we know about them in advance and the market reacts to them before they occur – stocking up before the change (people buy more), and after the change there can be a significant slowdown. As a result, two extremes can take turns on the real estate market very quickly, either extremely high demand, or complete lack of interest.

The performed changes have so far not fully affected the prices of residential real estate. They should be visible in statistics probably in the second quarter of this year.

What impact the tightening of mortgage conditions will have from April? What is the expected development of apartment prices? – You can find the answers here.

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