Kyiv – London, 5 February 2019 – European commercial real estate investment volumes reached a record high of €312 billion in 2018, according to the latest data from leading global real estate advisor, CBRE. This represents a 0.3% increase on 2017, which was previously a record, when total investment volumes reached €311 billion.
France, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain all posted record levels of investment in 2018 with Spain and Portugal both registering increases of more than 50% on 2017 (56.9% and 51.4% respectively). Spain performed particularly well in the latter half of 2018, driven by several large platform deals including Blackstone’s acquisition of Hispania and a majority stake in Testa. Germany saw its second-highest year of investment on record, with 2018 volumes reaching €77 billion, up 5.9% on the €73 billion recorded in 2017.
Total investment volumes for the UK declined by 6.5% for the year as investors were more cautious in their underwriting amid geopolitical uncertainty; however, activity in Central London rose 10% compared with 2017.
The ‘beds’ sector proved popular with investors in 2018. Hotels and other alternative sectors both achieved record investment volumes of €22 billion and €21 billion respectively, with the growth in alternatives primarily driven by the Healthcare sector. Additionally, the residential sector saw record investment volumes of €50 billion, up 22.4% on 2017 and cementing its position as the second-largest asset class, surpassing Retail for the first time.
However, Offices remained the largest investment sector, with total volumes across Europe reaching €127 billion, an increase of 6% compared to the previous year. Industrial and Logistics continued to perform well throughout 2018. However, having undergone a consolidation period in 2017 with a number of large platform transactions, investment volumes in 2018 were down 23.5% to €33 billion. If the exceptional €12.25 billion Logicor deal which transacted in 2017 is excluded, Industrial and Logistics turnover would have been up 6%.
