Retail property comes out on top according to the European Valuation Monitor

Recent studies by commercial property and real estate services adviser, CBRE, have indicated that of all property sectors, retail property was Europe’s most successful commercial real estate sector for 2011.

CBRE’s European Valuation Monitor has shown that retail real estate contributed a 1.5% increase in capital values over the year – the tenth time this sector has gained a higher value than the other sectors at the pan-European level.

This was a higher increase for the retail property sector across Europe than at the All Property category which did not see any change. Offices have shown a growth of 0.5% while industrial property indicated a decrease of –4.5%.

On the subject of retail property, Senior Director of Valuation & Valuation Services and CBRE, Andrew Barber, says, “'Appetite for this sector throughout the year was driven by retail's defensive characteristics, and investor strategies focused on the German and Central and Eastern European markets in particular.”

Retail investments within Europe have shown a steady increase by 4.9%, having reached almost 38 billion euros in 2011, and Andrew Barber is of the opinion that “the defensive characteristic of good quality retail will continue to be favoured by risk-averse investors. This, combined with a growing interest in prime high street retail units - pricing competition for which has accelerated towards the year-end in markets such as London and Paris - gives reason to believe that further value appreciation can be expected as the evidence feeds into valuations.”

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