€281b invested in European commercial real estate, sets new record

An exceptional fourth quarter 2019 saw the year set a new record for investment in in commercial real estate Europe, reported BNP Paribas Real Estate.

With investment of €100 billion ($110 billion), fourth quarter 2019 accounted for more than a third of the total €281 billion ($310 billion) invested in 2019, up 3 percent on the previous record-breaking year in 2018. This was all the more remarkable insofar as the biggest market historically, the United Kingdom, was held back (with a drop in volume of 18 percent) for the second consecutive year over doubts about its future collaboration with countries in the European Union. The Netherlands (fourth-largest European market) also saw a decline (falling 28 percent). Yet the performances of the other two main markets, namely Germany (up 19 percent) and France (up 19 percent) — as well as other big markets such as Sweden (up 44 percent), Italy (up 41 percent) and Ireland (up 84 percent) — outweighed the declines and pushed i