Commercial property in Europe returned 8 percent in 2010, measured in local currency, according to the IPD Pan-European Annual Index. The performance was substantially better than that of 2009, when the index returned 1.4 percent. The index now shows a 10-year total return of 6.1 percent.

The best performing region last year was the United Kingdom, at approximately 15.0 percent. Other strong performers were Sweden (10.4 percent) and France (10.0 percent); France was the only country in the euro zone to get into the double digits.

“2010 saw a return to capital growth after two years of decline, at 2.2 percent,” says Peter Hobbs, head of business development at IPD. “However, the value rise was more a case of repricing and improving investor sentiment, as opposed to occupier demand, driven almost entirely as it was by yield compression, while rental value growth remained weak acros