Euro Cities - Spring 2020

At a time when cross-border investment is high up the economic and political agenda, Gerald Eve continues to expand and strengthen its international alliance, offering clients a best in-class service across Europe, North America and beyond.

Warning lights are flashing over several key parts of the world economy. Tensions between the US and China continue to weaken global trade, with China’s problems compounded by the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Closer to home, trade negotiations between the UK and EU are underway, albeit with an end-of-year deadline and opening positions that look set to generate plenty of heated discussion. Trading relationships are being hammered out against a backdrop of structural shifts in the way we live and work, and uncertainty is the order of the day.

Despite these pressures, commercial real estate retains its allure to investors. Demand for offices remains high – particularly new space that can be used as part of talent recruitment and retention strategies – while changing consumer behaviour continues to drive occupier and investor appetite for logistics warehouses throughout Europe.

To capture the on-the-ground feelings behind the data, this edition of Euro Cities is the first to feature a new sentiment survey. Capturing the thoughts and opinions of investors, occupiers, developers and brokers across the continent, the results give a fascinating insight into where real estate professionals think the future of the sector lies.

Economy

The European economy has entered a period of subdued growth with GDP growth expected to be 1.1% in 2019, its weakest year since 2013. Trade policy uncertainty, the future relations between the UK and the rest of the EU, compounded by structural shifts such as changing consumer preferences in the car industry and the damage already caused to trade integration, are likely to dampen growth and inflation in the euro area over the next few years.

Commercial Real Estate

2019 investment activity in Europe was down compared to the record levels seen in 2018.
However, rather than a fall in investor sentiment, the reduction is largely due to a lack of available opportunities in the market.

We hope you find this report both useful and interesting, Gerald Eve and our international alliance partners remain available to help you make better real estate decisions.