LONDON-Transaction volume across Europe increased by 40% in the first quarter over Q1 2010, up to $47.3 billion, according to Real Capital Analytics’ recent Europe Capital Trends Report. The gains were led by a more-than-usual amount of retail transactions, with four transactions that exceeded $1.5 billion.
The core markets of the UK, Germany and France are still the primary target of investors, with Germany seeing the strongest growth of any European country in cross-border acquisitions over the past year on a global basis. However, secondary markets are also showing strong year-over-year gains, according to RCA, with Manchester, Warsaw, Hamburg, Milan and Prague all showing triple-digit percentage gains in the first quarter.
Joe Kelly, director of market analysis for the London office, tells GlobeSt.com that core European countries should continue to see improved activity throughout the rest of the year as economic momentum slowly materializes and investors identify prime and more suitable secondary market opportunities.
“A renewed focus of continental and global cross-border capital on German and key central European markets should continue to develop, though recent investment trends in Europe clearly identify robust core and struggling peripheral markets. The responsible economic divide is likely to act as a drag on the wider European economy for some time to come and further challenge monetary policy within the Euro zone,” Kelly says.
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