Strange times indeed — COVID-19’s impact on Europe property markets

Financial market volatility has recently spiked and is likely to remain elevated. In this environment, fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, nimble property investors can take advantage of inter-sector property price movements that deviate substantially from their underlying historical economic sensitivity, according to a recent report by Green Street Advisors. The report states that those investors willing to make directional bets can also use this information across sectors and within sectors to generate outperformance.

The report, titled COVID-19’s Socially Distanced Pricing Behavior, also notes: “Curtailed economic expectations and greater odds of a negative tail event are finding their way in forecasts and decision trees. The economic growth expectations that underpin our Europe real estate forecasts have been pared back for 2020 and 2021, resulting in 50–200 basis point decreases in expected annual f