When blood pours, go shopping

Daniel Puchalski had the pleasure of moderating the panel "When the blood pours, go shopping", which took place during the Polish Real Estate Summit conference organized by Nowy Adres, and whose panelists were Andrzej Oślizło- CEO of Develia S.A., Karol Piniewicz- CEO & CIO of Futureal Group, Paweł Sztejter- Head of Living & Vice President of the Management Board at JLL Poland, and Jacek Zengteler- President of Yareal Polska Sp. z o.o..

2023 turned out to be a different year than some opportunistic funds expected - although there were a few deals on overvalued properties in the capital market. Will 2024 be the first year in the history of our market to see distressed sales? Does this mean that forced sales of assets will move the market and there will be more and more such transactions? What is the opportunity, how to take advantage of it?

Cases of distressed sales mainly involve office and retail buildings that provide opportunities for development with other uses and/or greater potential. A common cause of problems is the situation in the financing and office leasing markets, especially in the regions. Each of these segments has its own unique challenges, risks and investment potential. This situation can arise for a variety of reasons, such as the owner's financial problems, the need for a quick sale, or debt restructuring. There are those who have simply overinvested and in order to pay off their debts will have to sell their assets at a reduced price.

Price bargains can arise in the commercial real estate market. However, identifying them and taking advantage of them effectively, requires a great deal of market knowledge, risk analysis and a strategic approach. This makes the role of advisors in preparing such transactions even more important. However, as one of the panelists noted: in the residential sector, the blood pours mainly in the queues in housing sales offices.

We would like to thank the organizers of the Polish Real Estate Summit for a well-organized event and all the panelists for a valuable exchange of ideas.