Deloitte Real Estate Confidence Survey for Central Europe 2026 – the eighth edition of the report presenting the prevailing sentiments in the real estate industry

Key findings:

• Expectations regarding stabilisation prevail. In most categories the expectation of market stabilisation in upcoming months is growing. More than half of respondents expect stabilisation of the economic and tax climate and debt financing availability. A stabilisation in sentiment can be seen within the investment market. Most of the respondents expect that activity and volumes of investment transactions in CE will remain the same in the near future.
• Construction costs and land acquisition are primary concerns for developers. For over half of developers, construction costs, closely followed by plot acquisition challenges, have emerged as the top concerns, surpassing labour costs and availability. 
• This year, investors didn't have a clear favorite when it came to identifying the most attractive investment segments. From their perspective, these are office buildings and data centers (15% each). The residential sector came in close behind (13%). One of the most visible changes is the end of the warehouse sector's dominance (a drop from 27% to 10%), and for the first time since 2020, it is no longer perceived as the most attractive segment in the Central European market.
• Advisors show more optimism than their clients. They expect their clients will focus mainly on new investment search (39%) whereas only 18% of investors declared so. Advisors also appear to perceive better prospects of residential and PRS sectors than the other market players.
• Sustainability is important, but the market is still at an adaptation phase. A pragmatic approach observed in 2025 still dominates, as most respondents predict that market participants will be interested not only in ESG-compliant properties, but also non-compliant assets. Most respondents expect there will be up to 15% price difference between ESG-compliant and non-compliant properties.
• The greatest optimism can be seen among representatives of the real estate sector in Poland. Optimism in the Czech Republic appears to mirror the CE average, while the worst prospects for the coming year are from respondents relating to Romania.