European Real Estate Deals Slump to Lowest Level in 13 Years
- Higher interest rates have hit commercial property market
- Buyer and seller price expectations remain widely mismatched
This article is for subscribers only.
The deep freeze that’s gripped Europe’s real estate markets since borrowing costs jumped worsened at the start of the year as deals plunged to their lowest levels since 2011.
The first-quarter total of €34.5 billion ($37 billion) was down 26% compared with already subdued levels a year earlier, according to data compiled by MSCI Real Assets. That marked a seventh straight quarterly decline as uncertainty about the timing of interest rate cuts continues to drive a wedge between buyers’ and sellers’ price expectations.