Commercial real-estate investment turnover has plummeted in Central and Eastern Europe this year, but experts point to pockets of activity in Russia, the Czech Republic and Poland.

The volume of transactions in the region during first half of the year fell 91% to €560m ($795.1m) from the year-ago period, according to CB Richard Ellis. Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic accounted for 78% of those transactions.

In Russia and the Czech Republic, activity is being driven by domestic investors. In Poland, foreigners still hold sway, betting it will be one of the first countries in Europe to emerge from the recession.

Investment turnover in the region's commercial-property markets also is lagging behind Europe as a whole. As investors regained confidence at the end of the second quarter, overall investment turnover in Europe rose 12% from the first quarter to €13bn, CBRE's figures show. But in Central and Eastern Europe, the volume of transactions fell 59% in the second quarter to €164m.

Wall Street Journal