Reading the business pages over breakfast, I can’t help but think that many people will assume that there is no reason for optimism in the property business during the downturn that we now find ourselves in. However, this popular view fails to recognise that even in bear markets there are opportunities for strategic investors.

Subtle but powerful shifts in the demographics, politics, demands and attitudes of European society are taking place daily, without attracting the attention of the media, and are creating opportunities in property that outstrip the cycle of the markets. Indeed, it may be just the right time to capitalise on these trends, as office and residential developers retrench and prime sites can once again be acquired.

TAKING ADVANTAGE

Newspaper headlines currently bring almost daily news of falling house prices, asset value writedowns and the potential for the most successful of companies to overlever themselves with debt. In such a