Global real estate investment fell for the first time in five years last year, dragged down by lower land acquisitions in China, according to research published at MIPIM by Cushman & Wakefield.

Global real estate investment fell for the first time in five years last year, dragged down by lower land acquisitions in China, according to research published at MIPIM by Cushman & Wakefield.

Real estate trading activity fell 6.3% to $1.2 tln (€1.1 tln) worldwide, the firm’s report International Investment Atlas reveals.

The decline in Chinese land sales aside, the global investment market is in ‘rude health’ and set to improve further in 2015, C&W said.

The report forecasts global investment volumes to rise by 11% in 2015 to $1.3 tln, led by Europe and the US.

Commenting on the outlook for global markets this year, David Hutchings, head of EMEA investment strategy at Cushman & Wakefield, said: ‘The 2014 pick-up was better than many predicted this time last year but the 2015 outlook is stronger still, with the brakes now coming off the market.

‘Not only do we have strengthening global liquidity thanks to low interest rates and an expansion in quantitative easing, we also have the start of stimulus measures by China, signs of deeper reform in more markets and an improvement in the funda-mentals for the occupier in many areas. Despite the heightened risks we also have to contend with, this all points to the up cycle in global real estate being both magnified and extended.’

Click here for the full C&W report

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