In 2017, European commercial property investment increased by 8%.

 

In 2017, the value of investments reached €231.8 billion.

According to the latest statistics from global property consultancy Knight Frank, European commercial property investment reached €231.8 billion in 2017, up 8.4% from the previous year, after €80.7 billion was transacted in Q4. buying a house in qatar

The continuous inflow of capital from Greater China into the Central London office market helped the UK reclaim its title as Europe's most active market from Germany, which had surpassed it in the first half of the year. Following a poor start to the year, investment in the UK picked up in the second half of the year, reaching €59.3 billion in total. German investment reached a ten-year high of €50.9 billion in 2017, and the country was the top destination for US money entering Europe.

The French investment market got off to a slow start this year, but it picked up in the fourth quarter, when more money was invested than in the preceding three quarters combined. This was largely due to a resurgence in investor confidence following earlier in the year's political turmoil. Local investors dominated the market, accounting for more than 70% of all transaction volumes.

Knight Frank's Managing Director for Europe, Chris Bell, said, "With an increase of 8.4% in investment in 2017, the European real estate markets once again demonstrated their resilience and sturdiness. Along with the UK, Germany, and France, the Netherlands and Finland were standout markets in 2017, with both having record years thanks to substantial inflows of cross-border investment. While North American and European investors were the primary sources of capital in these two sectors, Asian investors, who are increasingly interested in a wider range of European markets, also boosted their involvement."

"The logistics and industrial sector had a banner year in 2017, with investment volumes jumping 42% year on year to €38.9 billion, accounting for 17% of the total commercial market. CIC's purchase of Logicor for nearly €12 billion and GLP's purchase of Gazeley for €2.4 billion raised volumes in this sector. These transactions not only show the strength of demand for logistics property, but also the hunger for platform and portfolio purchases from investors looking to invest substantial sums of money in real estate."

Despite the fact that yields were already at record lows across much of Europe, yield compression continued in Q4 in markets such as Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt, and Milan. As a result, the Knight Frank European Weighted Average Prime Office Yield fell seven basis points to 4.20 percent, a new low.

Q4 was a banner quarter for a number of European office occupier markets, with take-up rising by more than 50% year over year in Dublin, Madrid, Munich, and Prague. In comparison to 2016, total take-up in the major European markets studied by Knight Frank increased by 9% in 2017.

 

European rental growth accelerated in Q4 on the basis of strong demand and tightened supply. Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Madrid, and Paris all saw rises in prime office rentals during the quarter, bringing the Knight Frank European Prime Office Rental Index up by 1.5 percent.