The number of investment bidders per property rose for the first time across most Western European markets in the fourth quarter of 2009, with the biggest pick up seen in the Netherlands and France. There were some exceptions, however, with investment bidders remaining in decline in Italy, Switzerland and Cyprus. A similar pattern was evident in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Turkey, where investment activity deteriorated even more.

The number of investment bidders per property rose for the first time across most Western European markets in the fourth quarter of 2009, with the biggest pick up seen in the Netherlands and France. There were some exceptions, however, with investment bidders remaining in decline in Italy, Switzerland and Cyprus. A similar pattern was evident in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Turkey, where investment activity deteriorated even more.

These are some of the key findings of the RICS Global Commercial Property Survey Q4 2009. In Europe, confidence towards rents and capital values remained in negative territory across most markets during Q4, but respondents were generally less pessimistic than three months ago, the report concluded.
Indeed, low interest rates may start to add some support to pricing in 2010 by limiting the flood of properties placed on the market for sale.

With regards to rental expectations, Spain, Turkey, Scandinavia and Croatia were among the worse performing markets across the globe, followed closely by Belgium. Rental outlook is expected to improve in Ukraine, Switzerland, Austria and Portugal.