According to Cushman and Wakefield’s (C&W) European Commercial Real Estate Update, trading volumes fell to €11.4bn in Q1, -74% down on the same period of 2008.

In addition prime yields increased by 0.28% to 7.5%, their highest level for nearly five years and +1.39% up since 2007. Occupier markets are increasingly negative, with rents down in 24 of the 32 countries examined and by -14.5% overall, led by falls in the East. The combination of these factors left capital values across Europe down -18.5% over the year.

However, C&W believes there are early signs that some investors are now ready to act, led by interest in the UK. Whilst domestic buying is down significantly on early 2008 levels, a number of markets are reporting renewed interest from some domestic high net worth individuals and families, as well as local institutions. These are often investors who have been out of the market for a number of years due to competition from foreign and debt backed buyers, but who now see attractive opportunities to invest, often for assets which may rarely come to the market, albeit often in smaller lot sizes.