Investment in European real estate is at its highest level for eight years, according to the latest research published by CBRE.

Investment in European real estate is at its highest level for eight years, according to the latest research published by CBRE.

The last quarter of 2014 saw investment volumes of €78 bn, comparable to the final three months of 2006 and 27% higher than the same period in 2013. Compared to Q3 investment volumes were up 49%.

For the year as a whole CBRE tracked investment volumes of €218 bn, an increase of 32% on 2013.

Among individual nations, the strongest growth was recorded in Ireland, where Q4 turnover was 118% higher than the previous year, followed by Sweden (97%) and the Netherlands (89%).

At the other end of the scale, Russian investment fell by 82% as investor confidence was hit by falling oil prices, economic sanctions and the weakening rouble. Negative growth was also experienced in Finland (-37%) and Poland (-8%).

On an annual basis record levels of investment were seen in Sweden (€14.5 bn), Spain (€10.2 bn) and Ireland (€4.59 bn), while the UK came within 10% of its previous record year at €77 bn.