Investment activity plunges 74% in Q1: C&W

Investment volumes in Europe fell 74% in the first three months of 2009 year-on-year to just EUR 11.4 bn, according to the latest European commercial real estate investment update from adviser Cushman & Wakefield.

No market was unscathed, the report said, adding that rents are under pressure in most areas as the decline of the occupational sector accelerates further. With prime yields rising further, capital values across Europe were down 18.5% over the year.

Trends within the market were similar to late 2008, with foreign investors pulling back faster than domestic buyers, taking just a 29% market share in the quarter, down from 43% last year. Virtually all countries saw a similar pattern, with major markets such as Sweden, the Netherlands and Russia seeing no significant foreign buying at all.

The only exceptions were Italy, which saw an increase in foreign buying after a very weak fourth quarter, and the UK, where a steep fall in pricing and sterling, as well as the increased availability of property as companies and institutions have needed to make sales, have combined to make the market a key focus for many of the international buyers who are in the market.

While domestic buying in the UK dropped by 41% - in line with wider European trends - foreign buying increased 147% on the final quarter of 2008. Nonetheless, activity in the opening quarter by foreign players was still down on the same period last year, by 54%.