LONDON-Despite fear of an economic double dip, Europe continuesto offer substantial opportunities for major property investors.Key-country strategies and cycle-resistant sectors will play acrucial role, says Jos Short, chairman of locally-based InternosReal Investors. He identifies German cycle resistant assets asoffering the best opportunities.

Short says many property investors expect a second cyclicaldownturn. However, the Internos strategic view of short, mid andlong term provides a “safe cycle path to counterbalance thatperception.” This identifies countries and, more broadly, sectorsthat will achieve stability, even growth through the fearedeconomic downturn. Beyond this, it also considers regions andsectors likely to have steady or exciting progress in a two-to-fiveyear window.

While Asia may currently be a popular investment destination,Europe’s clarity of property laws, security of title and rentalyields make it an essential element in any large portfolio, Shortsays. In the next two to five years, an economic double dip wouldnot apply to all European countries - or all sectors - as manyfear. He singles out Germany, the world’s second largest exporter,as his overwhelming favourite for core real estate investment. Asecond dip would also be largely confined to parts of Europe at atime when the rest of the world is still restocking German goods,and the weak euro greatly benefits German exporters.