European real estate trading volumes hit EUR 23.3 bn in Q3, 12.5% down on the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The property adviser said in a new report that better sentiment and a modest improvement in property and debt availability should support stronger activity in the coming months, however, with volumes expected to increase as much as 70% in the final quarter and annual volumes forecast to hit EUR 110 bn for the year overall.
European real estate trading volumes hit EUR 23.3 bn in Q3, 12.5% down on the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The property adviser said in a new report that better sentiment and a modest improvement in property and debt availability should support stronger activity in the coming months, however, with volumes expected to increase as much as 70% in the final quarter and annual volumes forecast to hit EUR 110 bn for the year overall.
Cushman & Wakefield said that its latest figures show that the final quarter of 2010 has got off to a 'flying start', with more willing buyers and willing sellers coming forward. If current momentum is maintained this quarter could total around EUR 40 bn, the highest quarterly figure since early 2008.
Michael Rhydderch, head of Cross Border Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield, 'If one had to generalise, it has been Europe’s smaller and more peripheral markets which have fallen behind over the past quarter as the sovereign debt crisis has added to the risk aversion which already held investors back from less liquid markets.’
‘The biggest markets have continued to fare well with only small falls in dealing volumes in the third quarter in the UK and Germany for example and gains in some regional middleweights such as Italy and the Netherlands. However, with the quality of stock investors seek still in short supply and some buyers also starting to get comfortable again with a certain level of risk, interest in other markets is steadily growing.'
According to David Hutchings, head of European Research at Cushman & Wakefield, 'While market fundamentals of size, access and liquidity are of vital importance, investors are also paying more attention to macro issues than they have done in the past. There is in fact a very clear link between the markets investors are targeting and recent or prospective economic growth. Also, investors are also typically more keenly aware of macro risks than many appeared to be in the past.'
This does not mean they are completely risk averse. More investors are now ready to accept some degree of risk just so long as it is well rewarded.