The 2015 edition of PropertyEU’s Top Brokers ranking shows the tightest finish ever since the survey was started in 2007 to find out who the biggest advisers are in Europe in terms of transaction advisory.

The 2015 edition of PropertyEU’s Top Brokers ranking shows the tightest finish ever since the survey was started in 2007 to find out who the biggest advisers are in Europe in terms of transaction advisory.

The difference this year between the winner JLL – at €38.8 bn – and CBRE – at €38.6 bn – was just €200 mln.

By contrast, the gap between the two leaders of the pack and the number 3 was more than two-and-a-half times as big. Cushman & Wakefield made it into third place again with €15 bn, but BNP Paribas Real Estate followed hot on its heels with €13.3 bn and the gap with number 5 – Savills – was even smaller at €13 bn.

Since the start, almost without exception the top trio has included JLL, CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield. In 2012, CBRE ceded its lead for the first time to JLL and has remained at number 2 ever since. But the difference between the two is narrowing again. Conversely, the gap between the top 2 and the rest of the pack is widening.

Commenting on last year’s results, JLL’s European head Christian Ulbrich said: ‘We saw a great performance pretty much across the board in 2014 but Q4 was very very strong. The last time we saw that sort of stunning performance was in 2006-07. We are also very certain that we will see another very strong 2015. At the same time we are aware that this is not the new normal. This type of growth won’t continue forever.’

CBRE’s European head Martin Samworth was likewise upbeat for prospects in 2015, but said the market felt ‘very different’ to 2006. ‘If you look at the capital stack, we’re seeing a much higher proportion of equity going into acquisitions and more balanced investment strategies generally. The fundamentals are also different. We’re definitely at a different point in the cycle.’

A notable newcomer this year is Bilfinger Real Estate, thanks to its takeover of UK-based GVA in June 2014. The company has since added French peer Keops as an affiliate of GVA Worldwide, which until end-2014 was an associate of Colliers International.

For more on the winners and losers in Europe's real estate advisory sector last year, read PropertyEU's Top Brokers special report in the March edition of our magazine