European commercial real estate underwent a seventh consecutive quarter of falling investment in the third quarter of 2023, according to the latest Europe Capital Trends report from MSCI Real Assets.

The index provider and data analysis firm has revealed that the volume of completed transactions fell 57 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period a year earlier to €32.8 billion. Russia, however, did have a positive third quarter, after attracting €2 billion of capital. Despite this uptick, no sector or region has escaped the overall transaction slowdown that has characterised the first nine months of this year.

Overall investment in the first nine months of the year stood at €119 billion, less than half the level for the same period in 2022. Pending transactions at the start of October — typically a reliable indicator of sales in the final quarter of the year — were the lowest since 2011.

Amidst the gloomy outlook, there are still some p