The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was realised across Europe in the second quarter of the year as the region’s real estate investment fell 39% to €43bn from the same period last year, according to CBRE.

The latest data from the global real estate advisor has shown that total real estate investment in the second quarter of 2020 was also below the €85.5bn recorded in the first quarter of the year.

The strong first quarter of 2020, which recorded a 52% rise over the first quarter of 2019. was driven in part by a lag effect from the previous quarter, with many large deals that were initiated in the latter part of last year, completing at the start of this year, CBRE said.

For the first six months of the year, investment volumes in Europe rose 2% to €129bn from the same period a year earlier, CBRE said.

Whilst second-quarter volumes were down across the region, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and CEE outperformed the 39% decline for Europe, recording more moderate declines of 20%, 17%, 23%, and 23% respectively, CBRE said.

June saw a slight uptick as travel restrictions and lockdown measures began to be relaxed and CBRE said it this upward trend in volumes is expected to continue as Europe’s economy continues to recover.

“At a sector level, logistics and multifamily assets outperformed other sectors as investors sought stable income streams amid increased economic uncertainty,” CBRE said.

Chris Brett, head of EMEA capital markets, CBRE said: “Despite many countries across Europe entering into lockdown in early to mid-March, the true impact of the pandemic was not reflected until the second quarter, with May recording the greatest decline in activity.

“However, the uptick in investment we saw in June as restrictions began to be eased points to the start of a recovery. There is an abundance of capital ready to be deployed as limitations continue to be relaxed and we have seen very little movement in pricing for prime assets, particularly in the major gateway cities.”

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