Investment into European residential assets has doubled in the last 10 years, on the back of strong employment growth and above-inflation average price rises. In its 10th study on the European residential market, PATRIZIA states that at the end of Q2 2018, institutional investment in residential property reached €45.4 billion on a rolling annual basis, the third-highest recorded level since the global financial crisis. Average real price growth in the sector was at about 4 percent in 2017, driven by the recovery of house prices that collapsed between 2008 and 2014 in many countries, including Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands. The average would have been higher if it were not for Italy’s negative growth of –2.1 percent. Current construction levels equate to about 0.7 percent of total stock, and demand is expected to continue to place pressure on rental income and support capital values. PATRIZIA estimates that total annual returns in the range of 5 percent to 7