A very early spring

HUNGARY Spring came to Budapest earlier this year. In fact, the signs that spring was coming - at least on the Budapest office market - were already visible at the end of 2010: more and bigger deals, tenants starting to expand, and stabilising rents. Further signs of an improvement on a much troubled market were also in evidence throughout Q1 2011. In this period, to name just a few of the big office deals, audit company BDO signed a leasing contract for the entire  'C' building (3,600 sqm) of the Laurus Offices complex, while Cetelem Bank chose the Eiffel Square office building for its new headquarters. Also in Q1, Erste Bank leased 5,500 sqm of BSR Center in Budapest. "After the difficult year of 2010, we could even say that this represents massive demand, which could also get better as the year goes on. We expect tenants to remain active in 2011," comments Róbert Papp, director of the office department at GVA Robertson. The firm's numbers do give some ground for optimism:  Q4 201