The View 7th edition

6

JOS TROMP Head of Research Continental Europe – European Outlook

In H2 2018 we have seen a rally unfold on the property investment markets across several countries in the region, bringing the CE-5 volume to EUR 13.3 bn. This is not only the highest turnover on record but indicates a stunning 20% increase on 2017. How did other markets across EMEA perform last year? Europe had a tremendous year in terms of investment volume last year. Many of the key markets reached all-time highs – including France and the Netherlands. Germany had it’s second strongest performance ever recorded. This is all due a combination of low interest levels, large amounts of equity available and sound underlying fundamentals in the occupational markets. Despite increased completion volume in 2018, office vacancy rates in general decreased across most European office markets on the back of growing service sector employment and increasing demand for office space. In the future, pipeline may be curbed somewhat by increasing construction costs and lack of available labour – this has emerged as an issue not only in CEE but most Western European markets as well.