Cross-border global commercial real estate flows are seeing a growing influence from commodity-backed sovereign wealth funds seeking the traditional benefits of real estate (income and long-term value preservation) and from US capital seeking short-term opportunistic returns from investing in “distress”. In this article, we look at recent global capital trends and focus on the investors who are interested in Europe. We find that global flows ended 2012 strong and have made a solid start to 2013, though underlying that is strength in the United States and China (albeit dominated by land sales). There appears to be weakness in Europe, as domestic and continental investors hold back, and global investors are focused on larger lot sizes in limited geographies or distressed portfolios.

A strong end to 2012, a solid start to 2013

It is not unusual to see a surge in fourth-quarter real estate investment activity, as investors rush to close deals before th