Investment in European commercial real estate reached €51.4bn (£37bn) in Q1 2015, a 40% increase on the same period last year, according to recent research by DTZ.
This means investment for calendar year 2015 is poised to exceed the record of €230bn set in 2007. A strong final quarter in 2014 during which €71bn was invested pushed the latest figures for the past 12 months to €208bn – the first time this figure has been reached since the record year of 2007.
The DTZ research reveals strong growth, particularly in Benelux, Italy and Spain.
Offices continued to drive investment across Europe with 39% of market share – although this was its lowest share since 2011.
The retail sector’s volume reached a record quarterly level of €18bn in Q1 2015, driven by pan-European shopping centre portfolio sales.
Domestic and overseas investors played an equal part in the European volume in Q1 2015. Domestic investors accounted for a 50% market share while European and non-European investors both represented 25% of volumes with close to €13bn of investment each.
Magali Marton, head of EMEA research at DTZ, said: “Investment activity in Q1 was dynamic and showed a changing landscape. While the UK and France saw 36% and 34% volume growth respectively compared with a year ago, Germany’s €9bn of transactions was stable and the real story was elsewhere thanks to increasing variety in investment destinations.”
