Real estate to enjoy longer low interest rate regime - C&W

Central and Eastern Europe, the Eurozone Periphery and the Baltic regions boast the most attractive opportunities for investors in the real estate market, according to Cushman&Wakefield. The number of attractive investment opportunities in European commercial property has receded as yields have fallen and more markets have become fully priced. Cushman&Wakefield's European Fair Value Index™ identifies Europe’s most attractive office, retail and industrial markets for prime commercial property investment on a five-year hold period. The report shows that with Eurozone interest rates unlikely to rise until 2018, prime property yields in core Eurozone markets look likely to stay stagnent until 2017/18. Central and Eastern Europe, the Eurozone Periphery and the Baltic regions have the highest share of underpriced markets and boast the most attractive opportunities for investors. Germany has the majority of its markets classified as fairly priced, while the UK still has 19 fairly priced markets, and is further ahead in the cycle. In contrast, Swiss markets continue to look unattractive due to their very low prime property yields, between 3.0-3.5 percent, and weak rental growth prospects. The overall Fair Value Index™ for Europe was 55, down from 62 in Q3 2015, meaning that opportunities for investors have further diminished.