Record numbers attend CEDEM CEE

With its new venue, its expanded geographical range and record attendance figures, CEDEM CEE 2006, the only way to describe the event this year is a real success. Held in Prague since 2000, the event has grown from its limited Czech origins into the premier boutique conference in Central Europe. Along with the high-powered cast of panel speakers, an equally spectacular gathering of investors, financiers, developers and consultants filled the InterContinental, whose modernized interior provided the perfect backdrop to two days of discussion and debate. In all, nearly 450 property professionals from around Europe were on hand to meet, do business and exchange information.

Just as importantly for CEDEM's future, over 30 companies supported the event financially, including the event's General Sponsor Česká spořitelna and its Partners EC Harris, Eurohypo, First Title and HVB Bank.

The issue of maturity was one that came up repeatedly during discussions both on stage and during the networking breaks. In the opening Keynote address, Salans' Evan Lazar listed many of the ways the real estate sector in Central and Eastern Europe has matured, stressing however that there are still many fronts. With maturity, of course, comes responsibility, a point that was brought up repeatedly during one of the more controversial panels about the need for a code of conduct for agencies in Central Europe. As an important market, it's quickly becoming necessary for agencies here to define exactly how business can be done. Budapest's market, it was revealed, took direct action during a market slump several years ago. With the Warsaw and Prague markets now booming, the panel agreed that now would be an ideal time to revisit the issue.

One of the most closely watched debates was led by Charles Taylor of Cushman & Wakefield: Yields - The Day of Reckoning? There was no ultimate consensus on whether the Great Yield Shift has come to a halt, as many of those on stage and in the audience continue to see room for further rises in capital values. But there's no doubt that the business of investing in property in CEE is no longer as simple as simply buying and waiting for your building to increase in value. The pace of transactions has picked up dramatically, but the sophistication of the buyers is increasing rapidly as well.

A conclusive answer was at least reached by the panel led by Michael Müller of PWC: Is the Property Fund Sector in Crisis? The panel came to the conclusion that last year's difficulties were a major blow for a particular investment vehicle, but that the sector as a whole appears to be as healthy as ever.

The program included fascinating looks into the markets of four cities: Budapest, Prague, Moscow and Warsaw; it also delved into the mid-term prospects of Europe's economy with the well-known Vice Governor of the Czech National Bank Luděk Niedermayer. Those in the audience who are primarily concerned with finance issues will have been satisfied with Olga Humlová's panel "Bankrolling the Property Boom". Finally, the potential for new investments in the hotel sector was explored by Eric Assimakopoulos (Bifrost), Frederic Savoye (Accor Hotels) and Stewart Coggans (CB Richard Ellis Hotels).

With the conclusion of CEDEM CEE 2006, the initial plans for next year's conference are now starting to be put in place. This year's calendar of events for Roberts Publishing Media Group however still has several days that are circled. Along with a day of roundtable discussions to be held in Budapest in November, preparations are already well-advanced for the CiJ series of Awards evenings to be held in Warsaw, Prague and Budapest.

CEDEM 2006 will feature major panels featuring the region's key developers, retail anchors, and institutional investors. It will also consider best practice issues, yield compression, rising interest rates, and the rapidly expanding hotel sector. The goal of the event has always been to provide a forum for the exchange of experiences and information in a professional environment featuring the leading players on the market today. With the geographical reach of CEDEM now including Russia and Eastern Europe, the conference has clearly become a key meeting point for the CEE property industry.