'Panic phase' seems to be over in France, says IEIF

French commercial property values have seen a slight fall of 0.8% during the first quarter of 2009, according to the EDHEC IEIF Commercial Property France index which is based on the portfolio value of French unlisted real estate funds. The figure compares to a drop of 8.3% reported in the last quarter of 2008, suggesting that the 'panic phase' is over in the French commercial property market. However, the French IEIF property research body (Institut de l'Epargne Immobilière et Foncière) notes that market players continue to be 'clearly pessimistic' regarding the future prospects for the industry.

The EDHEC IEIF Commercial Property France index returned -1% in March, compared to a profit of 1.6% in February. The index's total return in the first quarter of 2009 came to -0.8%.