Study reveals severe shortfall in CEE student housing - with a potential value of up to EUR 4bn

Warsaw found to be the most under-supplied CEE city for student housing, followed by Budapest

32% of surveyed investors are already active in CEE student accommodation sector or intending to be in the short to medium term

91% of investors believe that the CEE PBSA sector will grow in importance within eight years

LONDON, April 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report by Colliers International and international law firm CMS has revealed that Central and Eastern Europe is facing a significant shortfall in student accommodation over the next 10 years. The firms' third annual joint Real Estate report, 'Student accommodation in CEE – the next big thing?' looks at the evolution of the student housing sector in the core CEE-6 countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, and canvasses views from investors on the relevance of CEE student housing as an asset class and their expectations for the future.

Over 32% of investors surveyed for the report are active in student accommodation in CEE or indicated that they intend to be. Poland was ranked as the most popular market for both existing investment activity and those considering investing in the future (50% of respondents), followed by Czech Republic (28%) and Hungary (14%). As the report reveals, supply in many regions is falling well short of forecasted demand.

According to the report, most CEE cities will suffer from a significant shortfall in student accommodation by 2028. Using a demand-supply model, matching a calculated assumption of the number of international students in the city against the supply of beds, it was revealed that Warsaw will have the highest housing shortfall in 2028 (-8,399 bed deficit), followed by Budapest (-3,679), Krakow (-1,227) Prague (-1,795) and Bratislava (-298). Bucharest was the only city to have had come out with a surplus. In this scenario and counting one bed per bedroom unit, the implied value of stock equates to EUR 1.22bn.

PDF: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/858858/Colliers_International_and_CMS.pdf

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/858857/Colliers_International_and_CMS.jpg)

SOURCE Colliers International and CMS