Increasing investment activity has pushed the total stock of retail space in Hungary to 1.4 million square metres at present, of which 800 thousand is located in Budapest and its immediate surroundings. There were signs already last year of increased investor interest toward projects in large regional cities. This trend is underlined by the fact that a significant portion of the more than 500 thousand square metres of leasable space that will be delivered in 2008 can be found outside of Budapest. In the next two years, the cities showing the most dynamic development in terms of retail properties will be Miskolc, Debrecen and Szombathely, says DTZ market analyst Máté Svébis, summing up developments going on outside Budapest.

In terms of their size, rural plazas have 15 thousand square metres of leasable space on average. This is significantly lessthan the shopping centres of Budapest, and is explained by the large differences in purchasing power. Until now, most rural cities had just one shopping centre, while the latest trends show that in the past year many cities have opened additional outlets for shoppers. Rents per square metre in rural shopping centres are around 30-40 euros per month, while the same is 9-14 euros in retail parks.