Direct commercial property transaction volume fell by 23% in the first quarter of 2012, according to the latest figures from Jones Lang LaSalle.
The global volume for the first three months of the year reached $75bn (£47.3bn), down from $112bn at the end of last year.
Total volume for 2011 was $418bn, the fourth-highest year on record.
JLL said it expected full-year figures for 2012 to be broadly in line with 2011 at around $400bn.
The agent said that activity had dipped in all sectors since the beginning of the year and that 2011 had benefitted from some large-scale sales such as the £1.6bn sale of the Trafford Centre in Manchester.
Arthur de Haast, head of JLL’s international capital group, said: “Despite a slowdown in Q1 2012 compared with Q1 2011, we expect performance to improve during the coming months as monetary and fiscal policy is gradually loosened around the region.”
jack.sidders@estatesgazette.com
