Major downturn for most European markets
All countries were affected by the side effects of the pandemic and experienced a downturn over Q2 and Q3 2020.
The German market, due to an exceptionally strong Q1 involving a number of high-volume portfolio deals, stabilised (-3%) after 2019’s all-time high. The United Kingdom (-20%) was muted over Q2 and Q3 on account of continuing investor worries over the economic outlook. In France, (-31%), the figures are down for all asset categories. The Dutch market (-25%) suffered from the lack of international capital. The Italian (-19%) and Polish (-10%) markets both dropped despite a healthy logistics market. In Spain (-25%), the good performance of the retail sector was not sufficient to maintain the turnover. The Belgian market (+38%) progressed due to one office deal that represented almost a third of the year-to-date volume. The Irish commercial real estate market (-41%) experienced a strong fall in the retail sector. The Czech market (-66%) suffered an absence of office deals, whereas Romanian investment (+63%) increased due to the closing of two major office deals during Q3. It is not a good year for the Luxembourg market (-22%) as it is dependent on international capital that has dried up over 2020.
