Real estate investment turnover in the Central and Eastern Europe region amounted to €5 billion last year, according to figures from CB Richard Ellis. That’s up 90 percent, compared to the total seen in 2009.

Investment volume in Poland alone amounted to €1.79 billion.

“[The year 2010] marked the return of interest in portfolios and large single assets in the CEE real estate market. Around 45 percent of all property investment in the region related to €100 million-plus deals,” Patrick O’Gorman, capital markets director CEE at CBRE, said in a statement.

Poland and Russia dominated investment activity throughout the year, accounting for a whopping 74 percent of total turnover. Unibail-Rodamco’s over €400-million acquisition of the Arkadia and Wileńska shopping centers in Warsaw was the single largest retail transaction in the region last year.

Of the two markets, Poland saw an overall higher volume until the fourth quarter, when Lenmar Capital spent €690 to purchase a portfolio of five office buildings in Moscow, totaling around 190,000 sqm of space.

Around 46 percent of total volume last year involved office-sector deals, the highest percentage seen in five years, according to CBRE. The firm attributed this to a squeeze of top-grade supply.

Notable trends in 2010 included limited activity by German open-ended funds and prime yield compression in most markets in the region, “across all major commercial sectors.” Notably, a prime yield gap of 50 basis points is seen between the Warsaw and Prague markets, reflecting the former’s greater liquidity.

“The past year offered proof of the increasingly stable situation in Poland and the region,” Mr O’Gorman commented. And what trends can we expect for this year?

According to CBRE’s capital markets director CEE, “In 2011 we expect that the largest investment funds will decide about further investments in our region.”