Germany loses favour

Germany is no longer the most popular destination for commercial real estate investment, according to BrickVest’s latest commercial property investment barometer (‘the Barometer’). Formerly the most popular location in Q3 2017, Germany has now fallen in favour among investors behind the UK, US and France.

Germany saw a drop in popularity from 34% to 23% in the last quarter, marking its lowest rating since Q2 2016. The UK, however, rose from 27% to 29% in Q4 2017, managing to sustain its favourability by consistently ranking above 25%.

Both the US and France have also gained popularity with investors, with nearly one in five (19%) preferring the US over other regions and 18% now selecting France as their location of choice. The Barometer also revealed that the hunt for income ranked highest (38%) as the primary investment objective of BrickVest investors this past quarter.

Notably, interest in secondary cities as target markets continues to steadily increase (from 37% in Q3 2017 to 41% by the end of 2017). These include Birmingham, Newcastle and Bristol.

“Our latest Barometer reveals that the UK has once again become the most popular region for our investors. “As the year progresses and we continue to conduct our Barometer, it will be interesting to see how the industry adapts to the underlying factors affecting the real estate market,” summed up Emmanuel Lumineau, CEO at BrickVest