Europe's non-core markets see major rise in retail investment – report

Investors in the retail property sector in Europe have increasingly been focused on some of the continent's non-core markets, according to the latest report by Savills. The total investment volume in the sector (across the 15 major European markets that the company covers) during the first three quarters of last year stood at €33.3 billion, down 28 percent from the figure recorded for the same period of 2015. However, while the two largest markets – the UK and Germany – saw turnover decreases of 18 percent and 46 percent respectively, the non-core markets of Ireland (up 223 percent to €1.46 billion), Poland (up 126 percent to €1.4 billion) and Italy (up 119 percent to €1.8 billion) all witnessed significant rises in retail investment, the study said. “The strong performance of some non-core markets such as Ireland and Poland in terms of size of deals is likely to be attributable to the fact that these markets are slightly behind the core markets in the current investment cycle,” commented Eri Mitsostergiou, the director of European research at Savills. “2015 was a record year for total investment volumes across Europe, underpinned by the numerous mega deals and large portfolios, yet [in recent months] activity has been constrained by a lack of stock in core markets. It is the ready supply of retail product and in fact portfolios, which is driving investors to the non-core markets,” he said.