The volume of investment entering global commercial property markets during 2011 was higher than in 2010, new research has found. Preliminary figures from the Jones Lang LaSalle Global Capital Flows report revealed USD 400 billion (GBP 260.2 billion) was made available as direct investment in commercial real estate markets around the world over the past 12 months - up by 25 per cent on the year before. According to the study, the final quarter of 2011 saw three per cent more money flow into commercial property assets than the previous three-month period, with transaction volumes of over USD 100 billion recorded.
David Green-Morgan, global capital markets research director at the firm, highlighted the Americas in particular, where transaction levels climbed by 60 per cent. He added the Asia-Pacific area managed to continue on a strong growth path following a successful year in 2010. Meanwhile, the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region saw investment volumes rise by 16 per cent. Despite the positive global performance, there are still concerns that may affect commercial property investments in 2012.
Head of the international capital group at Jones Lang LaSalle Arthur de Haast commented: "Sentiment and economic forecasts in Europe imply that we could be in for a difficult year, although in the Americas in particular, confidence does seem to be returning on the back of improving economic indicators." However, research conducted by the organisation into investment in European retail assets paints a favourable picture for the continent, with the annual transaction volume expected to be over 28 billion euros (GBP 23.4 billion) in 2011 once all the figures have been analysed. This represents a 35 per cent increase over 2010.
Investors in the retail sector have been focusing on real estate assets in the UK and Germany, the firm noted, while France and Sweden each experienced large deals during the final quarter of last year. Head of European retail capital markets at Jones Lang LaSalle Jeremy Eddy explained investors were only interested in prime property and predicted that this approach will continue into 2012. He added it is important for investors to seek opportunities "outside of the core markets", as this is likely to lead to "greater returns in the long term".
