Investment volumes in the Baltic states reached a record €1.38 bn in 2015, an increase of almost 60% on the previous year, research by Colliers International has found.
Estonia was the strongest performing market, with a total investment volume of €544 mln, followed by Lithuania with €444 mln and Latvia with €394 mln.
The Latvian market was dominated by retail, which accounted for 77% of the total, while retail assets made up 50% of the market in Lithuania. In Estonia the office and retail sectors each had a 29% share.
The largest deals were portfolio transactions such as the acquisition of the BPT Optima fund portfolio by Partners Group, a newcomer to the region, for €163 mln, a portfolio of municipal rental apartments in Tallinn acquired by LCN Capital Partners for over €100 mln, and Hili Properties' purchase of nine retail assets across Latvia.
In Latvia 60% of the investment volume was driven by asset manager Blackstone's acquisition of the Alfa, Mols and Dole shopping centres.
The average transaction size across the market as a whole was €4.6 mln, compared with €3.1 million in 2014. Colliers said the increase was due to the large number and volume of deals of more than €20 mln, which made up around 59% of the total volume.
