EUROPEAN CRE INVESTMENT INCREASES 15% ON Q2 2014
- Iberia, Germany, the Nordics and Italy Drive Growth -
London, 15 July 2015 – Investment into the commercial real estate (CRE) market totalled nearly €56 billion in the second quarter of 2015, up 15% on Q2 2014, according to the latest figures from global real estate advisor CBRE. Although the rate of year-on-year growth in investment activity has slowed slightly compared with Q1, it is still the highest Q2 total since 2007.
Spain, Portugal, Finland and Norway experienced an exceptional increase in investment levels, each more than doubling on Q2 2014. Germany also had a strong quarter with investment of €12 billion, up 62% on Q2 2014.
Although the overall market remains active, a lack of product, rather than a lack of demand, is causing markets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to show relatively low levels of investment, particularly in the retail and industrial sectors. There is also some level of caution being seen in the CEE office sector due to new supply coming into the market.
Investment turnover in the UK was up 10% on Q2 2014 when measured in euro, but this increase was almost entirely due to the exchange rate shift; in sterling the total was virtually unchanged from Q2 2014.
Jonathan Hull, Managing Director, EMEA Capital Markets at CBRE, commented:
“Investment has increased steadily this quarter, with a strong overall picture for European markets. Not only are the recovery markets of Spain and Portugal experiencing high levels of investment, but the more established countries such as Germany also had strong quarters.
“In recent months we have seen the market trying to balance a lack of stock with the large amount of capital available for investment. This has generated a significant amount of activity in the portfolio sector, and in Q2 we again saw an increase in corporate deals such as Merlin Properties’ recent acquisition of Spanish property company Testa for around €1.8 billion.”