Investment into European industrials and logistics real estate is easing after a busy beginning to the year – with the UK bearing the brunt of the slowdown.
New figures from CBRE show that investment into the market grew by almost a fifth to €46.5bn (£40bn) over the first nine months of the year compared with the same period of 2021, largely thanks to a bumper €17.5bn of deals in the first quarter. Third quarter investment of €14.7bn remained ahead year-on-year.
However, Jack Cox, CBRE’s head of European industrial and logistics, said activity has started to slow: “Economic pressures are starting to affect sentiment and we are seeing investors approach with caution as we head into the final quarter.”
The UK, Europe’s largest market, posted the most notable slowdown with a 17% fall in Q3 investment volumes, with Italy, Norway and Denmark also down. This was a marked difference from countries including Spain, Sweden, Portugal France and Germany, where third-quarter investment rose.
Mark Cartlich, senior director and head of strategy for European industrial and logistics at CBRE, said: “The UK was the first market to show signs of a slowdown this quarter as it has seen the steepest increases in debt costs, but there were also weaker volumes in Italy, Norway, Denmark and central Europe, so we would be wary of focusing too much on the year-to-date trends and rather draw focus on the current market backdrop.”
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