Paris is now the biggest real estate investment destination in Europe, having overtaken London in the second half of last year according to new data released by CB Richard Ellis.
In its survey of European capital markets, CBRE reports that investment volumes in Paris hit 7.9 billion Euros in 2H 2011, up from 3.6 billion Euros in the first half of the year. With this Paris pipped London at the post with its 7.8 billion Euros investment volume.
The office sector drove the surge in Paris investment according to the report, with a mixture of single-asset and large portfolio transactions. With turnover up 30.7% in the second half of 2011, Paris now accounts for over 14% of the European real estate investment market according to CBRE.
The report also highlights a recovery in Moscow real estate investment. With 2.6 billion Euros invested in the second half, compared to 1.9 bn in the first half, Moscow overtook Berlin to become the sixth biggest real estate investment market in Europe.
CBRE believes investment in Moscow will continue to grow. 'Domestic investors account for the majority of commercial real estate investment in Russia. Once foreign investors recover their appetite for Russia, we can expect Russia to rise further, not least as it is one of Europe’s three megapolises,’ said Christopher Peters, CBRE research director for Russia.
The report's market by market analysis shows strong year on year growth in real estate investment for 2011 as a whole in France and Germany, while investment shrank in Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK. In fact, in Ireland only 8 deals were done in 2011 almost every one following a repossession, and in Portugal only 15 deals were done. This shows that while bond investors may have eased up of late, property investors are still shaky when it comes to the sovereign debt crisis.
