In 2018, European commercial real estate transaction volume originating from Asian investors was roughly US$24 billion, according to BNP Paribas Real Estate, about 8 percent of the total invested in the Continent. The rationales for investment remain (1) the sheer size of the European market, (2) the potential for diversification, and (3) the range of opportunities potentially offering attractive and stable returns.

First, the European property market is large, with European institutional-quality property estimated at more than US$2.9 trillion, according to MSCI, roughly 45 percent larger than the Asian market. Second, European markets offer strong opportunities for diversification, as different countries find themselves at different points in the cycle. Finally, European markets offer a wide range of combinations in terms of income and capital growth. Strong planning constraints in most European markets are often quoted as a driver of solid property performance; indeed, buil