Investment in European commercial property increased by 13% to €77bn during the first three quarters of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010, say BNP Paribas Real Estate.

And Germany saw an increase in the same period compared to 2010 with €12.62bn invested, a rise of €1.82bn.

Andrew Cruickshank, international investment director at BNP Paribas Real Estate, said: “While investment activity to date in 2011 has certainly been higher than 2010 over the same period, we expect activity to show a decline in investment activity overall in Q4 due to the macro uncertainties across Europe. However the German markets will continue to see activity thanks to funds having money to spend in Q4. Overall, we expect full year 2011 figures to be marginally higher than 2010’s total.”

In Q3 2011 Germany overtook the UK for the first time as it recorded Europes highest growth in commercial retail-property investment. Office property also went up, with an 18% annual increase in take-up of rental space, to 2.45 million sqm in the eight main German office locations. Vacant space is also continuing to fall, albeit at a slower rate, as prime rents increased by almost 5% in Q3 2011 over a year earlier.

Peter Schreppel, chief executive of CB Richard Ellis Germany, said: " Germany is the preferred choice for investors because of the size of its economy and property markets as well its geographic structure, with a fragmented market through five top cities and business centres, so there is a distributed risk profile.

"The German real-estate market has held up remarkably well throughout the crises, because Germany still seems to be the safest environment in the euro zone. There is major interest from both international and local buyers and demand will hold up despite a general deterioration in GDP growth."