The largest fund to close this summer was AXA Real Estate Investment Managers’ Commercial Real Estate Senior 9, raising more than €2.92 billion in equity commitments.

Both the principal office markets in Madrid and Barcelona and the retail sector across the wider country have seen recent deals that confirm the burgeoning interest of international real estate investors in the Spanish market. 

Not so long ago, the market for commercial mortgage–backed securities, or CMBS, faced possible extinction.

The pull of European real estate has been substantial in the past two years across the equity and debt spectrum, driven by an enduring relative value compared to fixed income and other growth assets as well as by a low interest rate environment that is not expected to change in the near term.

This year is shaping up to become a record-breaker for commercial real estate investment in Europe after a first half in which transaction volumes rose 37 percent from the same period in 2014.

Over the past couple of years, European real estate returns have been largely driven by investment in distressed opportunities. Value investments were plentiful, both in the core and core-plus styles. 

How many times have you heard that before? It’s one of the most often used and abused phrases in real estate, a few simple words that can be used to justify just about any decision, particularly when markets begin to look somewhat frothy.