London Remains Europe’s Top Investment Destination

Commercial Real Estate transactions in Q3 have grown 3% to £11.5bn compared to last year, according to MSCI. London was the top European destination for investment at the end of September, despite a 22% fall in investment from the same period last year.

The volume of office transactions in the capital rose, supported by rental growth, while some value-add investors targeted assets for renovation or redevelopment. One prime example was the £333m forward-sale of 100 New Bridge Street.

Overall, the MCSI report showed real estate in Europe experienced a relatively slow third quarter.  Head of EMEA real assets research at MSCI, Tom Leahy, said: “Quarterly investment volumes have broadly settled in the same range since the start of 2023, as liquidity has been constrained by pricing uncertainty, legacy portfolio issues for some of Europe’s largest investment managers and the structural weaknesses affecting some property sectors, particularly offices. The rapidly changing policy stances of the US administration have added another layer of uncertainty that has also weighed on Europe’s markets.”

A stronger fourth quarter is expected as MSCI’s data shows the number of deals pending completion is the highest since 2022.

Leahy said: “The conditions are in place for a stronger fourth quarter, which is typically the busiest for investment activity with the pressure to deploy capital before year-end.”

He added: “Resilient occupier demand has translated into rental growth, pricing appears to have stabilised and lower interest rates in the eurozone have started to make core assets appealing.”