As the world reflects on the medal winners and the records broken at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, we take a look at the winners and losers in Europe’s real estate investment market at the half-year stage, using Q2 2012 results collated by Cushman & Wakefield. And as Brazil now starts to prepare to host the 31st Olympic Games in 2016, we assess the prospects for Europe’s real estate markets over the next four years.

Market activity was more robust than anticipated in the second quarter, and as with this year’s Games there were a few surprise results, as well as the expected winners. Following a somewhat slow start to the year, markets picked up in the second quarter, with total European investment volumes up 7.8 percent to €29.2 billion. In western Europe, where most of the activity took place, volumes were up 5.4 percent on Q1 2012, with France, Germany and th