TheWrap: No city for young people

Aspen retained its position atop the Savills Ski Report for the fifth consecutive year, with luxury mountain properties averaging €35,000 per sqm. France's Val d'Isère trailed in second place at €32,500 per sqm, while properties in Gstaad command €30,700 per sqm. Over the 20-year history of the index, prime prices have jumped 150%, with US markets showing the steepest trajectory at 228%. By comparison, Swiss resort prices grew "just" 94%. Czech mountain destinations like Harrachov (€7,200 per sqm) and Špindlerův Mlýn (€7,450 per sqm) roughly match Swiss resort Morgins' pricing levels.

Prime industrial rents have gotten boring in Czechia. They’ve been stuck at €7 - €7.50 for five consecutive quarters. But despite stable vacancy (nearly 4%) landlords are increasingly offer generous incentives as tenant negotiating power strengthens. That’s according to Colliers’ Q3 market report, which counted 130,800 sqm in completions. The Czecingh industrial market size should cross the 13 million sqm threshold by the end of 2025, since it’s now just 100,000 sqm short of the goal. Industrial assets captured 31% of all transaction volumes this year as the sector rebounds from 2024's downturn.

Euro-zone inflation is stuck in an uneasy holding pattern near 2%, a reading puts the ECB in an awkward position ahead of its next meeting Dec. 18. November inflation likely came in at 2.1% with core inflation at 2.4%. That’s neither low enough to satisfy the hawks (who demand 2% or lower) nor high enough to reassure those afraid growth might stumble. Germany and Spain’s stronger showings are balanced by weaker readings in France and Italy.

For everyone who remembers when the average price of new Prague flats first exceeded CZK 100,000 per sqm, here’s a shocker: just 1.2% of the available flats in Prague can be had for less than CZK 120,000 per sqm. The average as of Q3 2025 stands at  CZK 173,305, according to Vit Soural of Flat Zone, who says that the 5,700 units currently on offer are 0.9% less than a year ago. In all, 1,700 new flats were sold between July and September, 8.1% off the pace from the same months in 2024. On the financing front, the volume of new mortgages jumped 50% to CZK 29.6 billion in September, with the average loan size rising 15.7% to CZK 4.35 million. Prague’s hotspot? Prague 9. One quarter of all sales (458 units) took place in the district.

At a time when the residential developer Central Group had a record 3,200 flats in the pipeline, its director Dušan Kunovský has decided to delay construction on 1,000 of them. Claiming the market is overheated, he said the construction sector needs the equivalent of a cold plunge. “This hysterical raising of prices for construction work and materials of late has fundamentally raised the prices on new flats for buyers. But we don’t want that,” he said yesterday. Kunovský reminded journalists that Central Group did the same thing back in 2022. “That time, it was a shock for everyone and they wondered why we were doing it. But within 3-6 months the whole market followed us.” Is that really such a good comparison, though? 2022 was a terrible year for developers, thanks to the worst inflation in a generation and interest rates of 7%.

Diversify, diversify, diversify. That's the message from Michal Stupavský (Conseq) for 2026. The investment strategist thinks a defensive posture is key thanks to global debt reaching $318 trillion worldwide by the end of 2024. To put that in perspective, he points out that this is 328% of global GDP. For 2026, he predicts continued dollar weakening and non-US equities outperforming US issuance. He's unsure if the inflation fire is completely out and is warning about the potential for stagflation in America.

Skanska closed a CZK 3.16 billion sale of the Port7 office complex in Prague's Holešovice to AFI Group. This marks AFI's first transaction with Skanska in Central and Eastern Europe. The fully leased project comprises three office buildings totaling 36,000 sqm of leasable space plus a development plot, positioned on the Vltava riverbank adjacent to a transport hub. Tenants include Shoptet, Aeven, Sweco and Economia.

PSN launched sales at Heřmanova 24, a complete reconstruction of a 1920s Cubist building on Prague's Letná. This is a boutique project that will deliver 15 units plus some ground-floor commercial space by Q4 2026. The project preserves architect Václav Zákostelný's original façade and period details, but it will add modern infrastructure—marble cladding, oak floors, and premium fit-out throughout. JKH Atelier redesigned the building’s layouts.

Blue Assets is expanding into retail by taking over management of seven Fidurock retail parks. The additional 82,000 sqm brings its total managed area to over 1.6 million sqm. The parks are located across Czechia, in cities like Liberec, Mladá Boleslav, and Tábor. Blue Assets, part of Panattoni Group since 2023, currently manages 60+ assets for 170+ tenants. Fidurock's CZK 10 billion portfolio spans 35 retail and residential assets.

In other Q3 news, CPI Property Group's deleveraging continues, with net LTV falling to 48.8% (from 49.6% at year-end). That’s thanks to €875 million in disposals to date. Like-for-like rents grew 3.4% while occupancy held at 92%. The company repurchased $272 million of its 7.3%-coupon US private placement notes, issued £300 million in hybrids, and completed a make-whole redemption of €256 million in bonds due May 2026 .