European property values limp upwards

European commercial property values increased slightly in the first quarter of 2011, but at a much slower rate than in the last three months of 2010, according to CB Richard Ellis' European Valuation Monitor.

An increase of 0.4% was recorded between January and end-March this year, compared to 1.2% in the previous quarter. The slower rate, the report suggests, was consistent with recent changes in prime yields in Q1, where falls of 10 basis points or less were recorded across the office, retail and industrial sectors.

CBRE insisted that the ‘overriding picture’ was one of stability. The report indicated that over recent quarters the difference in the rate of change between the pan-European and excluding-UK figures has drawn together and are now almost aligned as growth in the UK has abated somewhat, and picked up in Europe .

Richard Holberton, director of EMEA Research, CBRE, said: 'Value growth remains positive but gradual, reflecting an absence of strong movements in either rents or yields this quarter. It is also notable that the composition of value growth is shifting - in the early stages of recovery the EVM was mainly driven by UK growth, and year-on-year change in the excluding-UK component was negative as recently as Q3 last year. Evidence from Q1 of this year shows that the difference is now narrowing as excluding-UK performance improves.'