2015 a record year for retail investment in Europe

By

Lucile Deprez

Published
Nov 19, 2015

A survey carried out by real estate specialist Cushman & Wakefield showed that European retail investment has significantly increased over the first nine months of the year. It can be safely announced that 2015 will be a record-breaker in this respect. By the third quarter 2015, investment amounted to €51.5 billion, equivalent to a 59% increase.

As for the countries to which the investment is attributed, Germany snatched the lead from the UK.  Between them, they claimed the largest investment share.

Cushman & Wakefield however highlighted the renewed interest by industry players in Scandinavia, Benelux, central, southern and eastern Europe too. Countries like Poland, Turkey and Ireland were also mentioned.

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Within such major investment growth, shopping malls were the most sought-after type of asset. They accounted for an investment of €26.7 billion, more than half of the total retail investment volume.

Additionally, the number and total amount of retail portfolio acquisitions accounted for an activity volume of €14.4 billion from the start of the year. This is four times the annual volume recorded on average in the last ten years.

Finally, the Cushman & Wakefield survey showed that the investment volume over a 12-month rolling period has been growing in the last three years, and has now reached the record level of €67 billion in the third quarter 2015.

This means that the European retail investment market has doubled in volume in two years.