Over the past two decades, there has been increasing momentum for investing across European real estate markets. These markets have matured and become more liquid, while investment managers have strengthened their European platforms and an increasing number of listed and unlisted vehicles have been launched. This maturing of the market has been reflected in the growth of IPD’s indices across Europe.

Back in 1990, indices existed for just two markets, Ireland and the United Kingdom. By 2000, this had risen to 11, to include Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. At the end of 2010, with the addition of Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland and Switzerland, a total of 17 European countries were covered.

Although individual markets have grown and matured, the pan-European property funds market remains small, particularly when compared with the US and UK national markets