The latest Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2020 report by PwC and Urban Land Institute has just been released. Below is a brief summary of the 100-page report.

The business environment
Political and economic uncertainty clouds the outlook for Europe in 2020, and yet investors still remain drawn to the income-generating attributes of real estate. For many of Europe’s real estate leaders, the sector’s continuing attraction over other investment asset classes is the determining force for good. However, there is an undeniable mood of caution across the industry given the darkening macroeconomic picture.

The survey and interviews for Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe have been conducted amid an escalating trade war between the US and China, continuing uncertainty over Brexit and the major European economies struggling for growth. Expectations of a global economic slowdown are therefore widespread.

Central banks have responded by reversing the rising interest rate policy of a year ago – for many interviewees the most significant intervention since last year’s report. This lower-for-even longer monetary phase has been, as one private equity player said, “a shot in the arm” for real estate capital markets, with the notable exception of retail.