CBRE Urban Photographer of the Year 2019 competition opens for entries

‘Future Cities’ is the Theme for 12th Annual Urban Photography Competition

London | 22 November 2018

CBRE has launched its 2019 global Urban Photographer of the Year competition with the theme, “Future Cities.” Now in its 12th year, the competition continues to grow, with last year’s contest attracting more than 80,000 entries from 170 countries around the world.

This year’s theme invites photographers to submit photos that capture their vision of a future city.

The competition is free to enter and open to both professional and amateur photographers. A unique element to the competition allows each entrant to submit up to 24 images; one to represent each hour of the day. The overall global winner will be awarded a special photography trip to a destination of their choice for themselves and a friend. Other prizes include GoPro packages, photographic equipment and more. CBRE is accepting entries until January 31, 2019 and the winners will be announced in May 2019.

Martin Samworth, Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at CBRE and the competition’s executive sponsor commented: “This competition always provides inspiring insights into how we interact with our ever-changing urban environments and this year’s theme will encourage photographers to interpret how they perceive our cities of the future.”

Leslie Gall, CBRE’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, says, “We are a company deeply connected with the urban environment, and the Urban Photographer of the Year competition allows us to demonstrate our knowledge and passion for city life. As evidenced by the record number of entries we received last year, this unique competition continues to capture the interest and imagination of photographers around the world.”

Richard Morgan, an award-winning British street photographer living in Poland, was named as the overall global 2018 competition winner with his image, “What are you looking at?” – a compelling image connecting local and tourist spectators and the city in Poznan, Poland.

About the CBRE Urban Photographer of the Year competition
Website: www.cbreupoty.com
Facebook: CBRE Urban Photographer of the Year
Twitter: @UPOTY
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cbre/

Key terms – for full Terms and Conditions, please visit the website

Copyright/Usage: By submitting a Photo, entrant grants Sponsor and its agents, affiliates and subsidiaries a perpetual, unlimited worldwide royalty free license (including the right to sub license), for the maximum legal term of the Photo’s copyright protection, with full title guarantee and right to post, publish, and otherwise make use of, entrant’s first name, last initial, address (city/state/country), likeness or picture, biographical information, Photo description(s) and any Photo submitted in publication and/or on the internet, for advertising and/ or promotional use in any media in connection with and/or related to the Contest or a similar competition run by the Sponsor or any of its group companies without notice or compensation of any kind.Entrant agrees that all applicable taxes, fees and other levies on any prize are solely the winner’s responsibility.Copyright in all Photos remains the property of the entrant at all times; however, in addition to the above licence, entrants agree to the maximum extent permitted by law, to waive all or not to assert any of their moral rights in the photos (or equivalent rights anywhere in the world) as against the Sponsor and its agents, affiliates and subsidiaries in particular but without limitation the right to be referenced as the photographer or owner of the image or to modify in any way the submitted Photos to the extent permitted by law.

CBRE strengthens data centres offering with strategic IT hire

London | 23 October 2018

CBRE has announced the appointment of Duncan Clubb as Senior Director, IT Consulting, EMEA, in its Data Centre Solutions business.

Duncan has worked as a consultant advising on data centre, cloud, and Hybrid IT infrastructure. He brings with him over twenty-five years of experience in the sector having worked with clients including the Bank of England, Capgemini, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Travelex and Barclays.

In his new role at CBRE, Duncan will be responsible for leading IT consulting within the Data Centre Solutions business. He will focus on providing IT advisory services to clients, looking at their data centre and cloud strategies, as well as the planning and running of data centre migrations and cloud transformation programmes.

In response to increased market demands, Duncan’s experience and new role strategically compliments Data Centre Solutions’ rapidly expanding global IT service offering. The business now provides the full spectrum of data centre IT services, including capacity strategy and planning, migration, project delivery and managed ICT services.

Andrew Jay, Head of Data Centre Solutions EMEA

The data centre landscape is rapidly evolving and Duncan brings strong experience on both the consulting and service provider sides, offering an invaluable perspective for clients exploring Hybrid IT solutions and opportunities.
His deep understanding of the industry and diverse data centre expertise makes him a great addition to the team.
Andrew Jay, Head of Data Centre Solutions EMEA

CBRE Baltics team participates in Time Capsule planting event at Mežaparka Offices that marks next stage of Mežaparka Rezidences development

CBRE Baltics team was honoured to participate in the Mežparka Offices Time Capsule planting event at Mežaparka Rezidences, held on September 20, 2018. Mežaparka Offices is one of the most distinctive projects in Riga with commercial building (Leasable area 3,266 sq m) to be commissioned in Q3 2019. The area is one of the most sought-after in the city, bringing together an amazing balance of exclusivity, nature, amenities and prospects, as well as great transport connections to Central Riga and other districts. We are extremely privileged to represent and consult Domuss, the initiators of the project.

London tops ranking for largest tech clusters in new CBRE study

London | 05 September 2018

Summary

London, Madrid and Dublin top the ranking of large clusters
Thames Valley, Oslo and Basel rank highly among medium-sized clusters
Derby-Nottingham, Florence and Krakow score top places for smaller growth clusters

London has topped a ranking for EMEA’s largest technology clusters, according to research from CBRE, the world’s leading real estate advisor. The report EMEA Tech Cities: Opportunities in Technology Hotspots, published on 05 September 2018, provides a framework for occupiers and investors to assess the characteristics of technology clusters in economic, leasing and employment terms at regional and city level. The analysis identifies four separate categories of technology cluster in the EMEA region, based on a city’s level, concentration and growth of tech sector employment. This approach reflects the fact that technology clusters are very diverse in their structure, cost base and attraction to specialist technology sub-sectors.

The ranking headed by London, covered capital cities and business centres with more than 70,000 people in tech employment. London’s top position in this ranking is partly due to its ability to attract young millennial talent. Its overall employment in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector has grown by 20% since 2008, with its proportion of ICT employment at almost two and a half times the EU average. London has a strong sub-sector mix with no single activity dominating its employment, reflecting the city’s position as one of the world’s leading technology centres.

Kevin McCauley, CBRE's Head of Central London Research

It is no surprise that London has topped the EMEA tech ranking. London’s tech credentials enable it to out-shine its peers, with both large and small tech occupiers expanding and looking to secure space in the City. Kevin McCauley, CBRE’s Head of Central London Research

Other cities that rank highly in the same category include Dublin (3^rd), Budapest (4^th) and Bucharest (=10^th). The attractors of those cities also differ. Dublin’s success has been supported by strong government investment promotion, particularly toward US companies attracted by the cultural affinity and attractiveness of the city to young talent from across Europe. Budapest and Bucharest, have the advantage of labour cost arbitrage over Western European cities, but this has started to erode in the tech sector as people work remotely and those in the gig economy align their fees to their Western European counterparts.

Two further categories focus on medium-sized of between 20-70,000 tech employees. Most of the high-ranking locations in these categories are either established tech locations, such as the Thames Valley in the UK; places where tech has grown to support other activities, such as Vienna and smaller regional centres supported by a strong tech-university presence such as Basel.

The final category looks at smaller growth clusters, defined as locations with double-digit growth in tech employment both since 2010, and forecast over the next five years. Derby/Nottingham, Florence and Krakow all rank highly in this category. There is less uniformity in this category than in the others. Some cities have grown supporting other sectors, others are low labour cost destinations in CEE and some are second tier cities and regional business centres. Many are cities that are “cool” to work in for lifestyle reasons, rather than having the legacy of an established tech sector.

Stephen Fleetwood, Head of Location analytics at CBRE

These smaller clusters are perhaps the most interesting of all, as they demonstrate the footloose nature of the tech sector and the critical importance of labour and skills in the evolution of tech cities. Companies that drive this cluster are often not bound by legacy locations, or historical ties to cities or countries and real estate is not their primary concern, but simply an enabler. The question of where to find tech labour is exercising many companies at present, and this grouping includes some non-obvious but increasingly important locations with strong skills credentials. Stephen Fleetwood, Head of Location analytics at CBRE

Labour is not only fundamental to the success of the technology sector, it also has distinctive characteristics including a high incidence of contract employment, greater transparency of rewards and use of online channels both for job-checking and brand development. In addition, talent perspectives are changing, with millennial workers accustomed to taking risks and often not aspiring to work for large brands. Start-ups, where they can take ownership of a product or activity is where they turn to for advancement. Analysis of the characteristics of tech labour markets should be integral to location decisions, and many smaller but fast-growing cities in the EMEA region offer favourable possibilities. Richard Holberton, Head of EMEA occupier research at CBRE

CBRE advises AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets on strategic data centre acquisition

London | 20 July 2018

CBRE, the world’s leading real estate advisor has provided commercial and technical data centre advice to AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets which, on behalf of its client AXA France, has acquired the remaining stake in European data centre operator DATA4, from Colony Capital, increasing AXA IM – Real Assets’ client’s ownership of the platform from 37% to 100%.

DATA4 finances, designs, builds and operates data centres. It currently provides a total of 27,100 sq m of net technical space and over 140 MW of available power. It operates 15 data centres across three sites in France, Italy and Luxembourg, including Europe’s largest and most powerful data centre campus, located in Paris.

CBRE was able to draw upon its industry-leading integrated data centre solutions group to execute a wide range of due diligence, which included an analysis of the mechanical & electrical infrastructure, maintenance programme, capex budget, building fabric, DATA4’s commercial business plan and data centre market analysis.

Paul Mortlock, Data Centre Investment Director at CBRE

We are delighted to have advised AXA IM – Real Assets on such a high-profile transaction. We were able to quickly mobilise a number of data centre specialists from across both our Advisory & Transaction and Global Workplace Solution businesses to offer a comprehensive suite of commercial and technical due diligence to AXA IM – Real Assets.

Global data centre M&A reached record levels in 2017 and has continued into 2018. CBRE research shows that $25bn was transacted in 2017 alone, more than the four previous years combined. Significant growth in the sector, coupled with high barriers to entry, makes European data centres an extremely attractive asset class, which is enticing investors from across the globe.

Paul Mortlock, Data Centre Investment Director at CBRE

CBRE Recognized for “Best Use of Automation” by Realcomm for the Third Consecutive Year

Los Angeles | 8 June 2018

CBRE has earned Realcomm’s Digie award for the Best Use of Automation in the Commercial Services category. This marks the third consecutive year that CBRE has been recognized with a Digie award by Realcomm, a worldwide research and event company focused on real estate technology.

“We design our tech solutions – including our Vantage suite of enablement technologies – to help deliver measurably superior outcomes for our clients,” said Chandra Dhandapani, Chief Digital and Technology Officer for CBRE. “This award reflects the rising level of sophistication and increasing pace of innovation occurring at all levels within CBRE.”

CBRE received other notable accolades from Realcomm at its 2018 conference. CBRE|ESI Founder Paul Oswald, who recently retired, was honored with a prestigious Realcomm Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing a career of industry firsts and continuous advancement of tech solutions across client portfolios. CBRE was also named a finalist in the Best Use of Automation in Investment Management category.

Realcomm also recognized Don Goldstein, former CBRE Chief Information Officer, with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Realcomm’s Digie awards recognize companies, real estate projects, technologies and people that go above and beyond to positively impact the real estate industry using technology, automation and innovation.

CBRE earned Realcomm’s Digie award in 2017 for its smart building solutions innovations and in 2016 for its CORE Asset Services operating platform, which allows property management professionals to assess and track key performance indicators and operational data to help clients make timely and strategic decisions.

CBRE’s Vantage suite of enablement technologies provides automation, visualization, data analytics and other capabilities for our professionals and clients at various stages of the real estate lifecycle. More information is available at: www.cbre.com/vantage.

About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2017 revenue). The company has more than 80,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate investors and occupiers through approximately 450 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.

Food & Beverage and Mid-Range Fashion dominated new store openings across EMEA in 2017

London, 14 May 2018

Retail brands continued to open new stores in a wide range of cities globally in 2017, indicating that the physical store remains fundamental to retailers’ omnichannel strategies and are increasingly important to retailers’ success in international markets, according to CBRE’s annual report ‘How Global is the Business of Retail?

CBRE’s latest report identified that 123 cities had at least one new global retail brand open for the first time and of the brands expanding into new markets, 41% targeted more than one city.

Global retailer expansion across the EMEA region was mainly dominated by Coffee & Restaurants (F&B) and Mid-Range Fashion retailers such as Arket, Reserved and Tim Hortons.

Globally, the Coffee & Restaurant category was a key driver of global retail expansion in 2017, and accounted for 25% of new market entrants, up 17% from 2016. Activity in F&B sector has been driven by the evolution of consumer shopping habits and a preference for experiential retailing. This has been a key driver of expansion as landlords continue to diversify their tenant mix with more experience-orientated brands.

Hong Kong has once again claimed the top spot as the most targeted city for new retail entrants attracting 86 international retail brands in 2017. Dubai follows Hong Kong with 59 new entrants, with Dubai also taking the coveted top spot to become the number one city for the most international retailers present with 62%. Dubai also remains a key stepping stone for global retail and consumer brands entering the Middle East region.

Despite the uncertainty associated with Britain’s decision to leave the EU, the UK featured third with 54 new retail brands opening a store for the first time in 2017. London reinforced its continuing global retail appeal and attracted 49 new retailers, which saw London take the top spot as the most sought-after retail destination amongst the European cities, and ranked fourth in the top 20 global cities for new global and consumer retail entrants. Two major global brands to open in London last year were Canada Goose and Sonos. F&B and luxury brands were the biggest drivers of new store openings in London and accounted for 33 of the new retail entrants.

Taipei (52), Tokyo (46) came in third and fifth place respectively to make up the rest of the top five most attractive cities for new retailer openings.

David Close, Executive Director, Cross Border Retail – EMEA, CBRE

Retailers have approached expansion with caution and as a result this has led to a slowdown in growth in some markets. Expansion is still key but many retailers are reviewing their store portfolios and consolidating their stores before focusing on international expansion. The retail sector has evolved and the way consumers shop has changed but physical store expansion remains a key element to a retailer’s success. In today’s evolving retail world, retailers must create a seamless integration between consumers’ online and offline experiences. Having a comprehensive online strategy is also a significant factor for many retailers and omnichannel strategies can help boost the need for a physical store and many pure play retailers have signaled this through their expansion into brick-and-mortar locations. David Close, Executive Director, Cross Border Retail – EMEA, CBRE

The report also reveals that European cities are the preferred destination for global retailer expansion attracting 41% of new retail entrants in 2017. This is largely attributed to European retailers continuing to focus their expansion plans in their domestic region.

Natasha Patel, Director, CBRE Retail Research

Innovation in technology and economic changes are continuing to have an impact on the retail industry. As retailers look to raise their brand profile, they are still looking to expand and having a global store network remains crucial to their success. Mature markets remain at the forefront for retailer expansion despite concerns about some of them experiencing distress. Although expansion has slowed, these tried and tested global locations will remain high on retailers’ agenda for expansion. Natasha Patel, Director, CBRE Retail Research

CBRE acquires the business and assets of leading Australian retail leasing and property management firm

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE) has completed the acquisition of substantially all of the business and assets of Race Property, a retail leasing and property management firm in Australia. The acquisition strengthens CBRE’s position as a leader in commercial real estate services in the Pacific (Australia and New Zealand) region.

Race Property’s team of professionals will be integrated within CBRE’s existing Asset Services and Retail Leasing business lines in Australia. The combined operation will employ more than 130 professionals with broad and deep capabilities in the retail property sector.

Led by co-directors Graeme Wakefield and Meagan Wakefield, Race Property has provided dedicated retail services in the Queensland and northern New South Wales markets for more than 10 years.

Race Property provides integrated retail property services across all property types within the sector, including super-regional, regional, community and neighborhood retail centers.

Ray Pittman, President and CEO of CBRE’s Australian & New Zealand operations, said the acquisition reflected CBRE’s continued focus on the growth of its retail platform and ongoing strategy to diversify into new growth areas.

“We will now be able to provide a more specialized and first-class offering to our clients across the Pacific region, building on Race Property’s reputation and track record as a market leader in retail services,” Mr. Pittman said.

“We see this as an outstanding opportunity to expand and enhance our footprint across the Pacific region with a greater holistic approach, encompassing retail facilities management, property management, finance and leasing. This fully integrated retail leasing and management platform will also complement our existing retail investment sales and financing capabilities,” Mr Piitman added.

Ms. Wakefield and Mr. Wakefield will assume responsibility for CBRE Retail Asset Services and CBRE Retail Leasing, which, going forward, will operate on a more integrated basis.

Ms. Wakefield said CBRE’s global capabilities in the retail services sector was a key attraction, allowing Race Property to enhance its expertise with a company recognized as a global leader.

“The strength of the CBRE brand will enhance our ability to continue to cultivate sustainable client relationships in the retail sector and, importantly, it will enable us to offer our staff superior career opportunities,” Ms. Wakefield said.

Race Property has more than 2 million sq. ft. of property under management in Queensland and Northern New South Wales, with clients including ISPT, SCA, Rockworth, Coles and Fabcot.

Occupiers seeking tech, flex and wellness as workplace consumerisation takes hold

Summary

45% of businesses expect to have significant use of flexible offices by 2021
Nearly half of companies (47%) will be looking to hire data scientists
92% of companies have a preference for wellness capable buildings

Nearly two-thirds of companies (62%) plan to increase their investment in real estate technology over the next three years, most of them in the next year, according to the 2018 EMEA Occupier Survey from CBRE, the world’s leading real estate advisor.

Companies are intending to invest more heavily in new real estate technologies over the short to medium term in order to enhance the user experience and raise workforce productivity. This represents a clear move away from aiming real estate technology at purely operational goals such as energy management.

The technologies being employed include wayfinding apps, connected sensors, wearables and personal environment control systems. Room or seat reservation systems and sensors are also being increasingly adopted to support improvements in space efficiency.

Mike Gedye, Managing Director, Advisory and Transaction Management

Over the last few years, we have seen a seismic shift in occupier demands, placing an increased focus on user experience alongside employee engagement, productivity and wellness benefits. Tomorrow’s optimised workplace will be best enabled by people-led technology platforms that connect the features of a personalised workplace experience. The planned increase in real estate technology investments, demonstrated in the survey, will only serve to accelerate this. Mike Gedye, Managing Director, Advisory and Transaction Management

Richard Holberton, Head of EMEA occupier research

These changes will place new demands on management of the real estate asset, entailing a shift towards better service levels and more consumerisation. This is effectively a growing fusion of workplace and service, reflected in widespread plans to hire new skills such as data scientists and digital information officers. Richard Holberton, Head of EMEA occupier research

Companies are also seeing flexible office space as a key element of their corporate portfolios. The proportion of companies making no use at all of flexible space is expected to decline from 35% to 21%, indicating a growing awareness and broadening of interest even among previous non-adopters.

Occupiers are also increasingly differentiating among the various types of flexible space available, and in general favouring co-working space. All see double-digit increases in their expected level of usage in three years’ time compared with currently. The increase is most marked for co-working space which sees a rise of over 20 percentage points to 56%, taking it above serviced/furnished space as the most popular type of flexible space.

Richard Holberton continues: “It is increasingly likely that some larger corporations will respond to the emerging flex market dynamics by developing their own bespoke co-working environments, which mirror the design, service and “vibe” of 3rd party spaces, supported by similar technologies and concierge solutions, but delivered and operated directly to preserve the relationship between employer and employee.”

The wellness agenda has evolved into a core pillar of real estate strategy. Four out of five occupiers have, or plan to introduce, wellness programs and an even higher proportion have some degree of preference for wellness enabled/capable buildings. This is supporting a range of innovative approaches to delivering and measuring wellness, including broadening and adapting the offer and seeking to measure the impacts.

Richard Holberton continues: “Developing a flexible wellness offer will require creative thinking, enhanced collaboration between the Corporate Real Estate, HR and IT functions and senior management, as well as a critical eye on which elements actually generate the greatest measurable benefits.

“Taken together, these changes will produce a more refined occupancy planning capability among corporate occupiers. It is also likely to generate new forms of asset configuration and workspace design, and place new demands on management of the real estate asset, namely a shift towards better service levels and more consumerisation. The change is well underway for what can effectively be called the personalised workplace.”

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Industrial most sought-after asset class for European commercial real estate investors

Industrial and logistics preferred sector for 33% of EMEA investors, surpassing office for the first time

Industrial, and specifically logistics, is the most sought-after real estate sector for European investors, overtaking office for the first time, according to CBRE’s annual EMEA Investor Intentions Survey. With the growth of e-commerce continuing to benefit the sector, a third (33%) of respondents in Europe expressed a preference for industrial property, mirroring the trend globally, and reaffirming its status as an institutional asset class.

Across EMEA, office was ranked second, favoured by 26% of respondents, with investors seeking markets with strong economic fundamentals to underpin rental growth and high-levels of liquidity. Residential has seen the steepest rise in popularity, compared to 2017, and was the preferred asset class for 21% of EMEA respondents.

A defining feature of the market last year was the rise in sales of large portfolios, specifically ‘platform’ deals. Notable transactions included Blackstone’s €12.2 billion sale of the Logicor Portfolio to the China Investment Corporation and Brookfield’s $2.8 billion sale of IDI Gazeley to Global Logistics Properties. Not only did the purchasers, typically large Asian investors, access the market at scale, but by buying an operating platform they also acquired the infrastructure and management expertise to manage the assets and continue to develop the portfolio.

Jack Cox, Head of EMEA Industrial and Logistics Capital Markets

2017 was the year the industrial and logistics sector was unquestionably re-rated, evidenced by the number and scale of platform deals we saw in the sector. Logistics yields remain at a premium over other real estate sectors, and the sustainability of returns in the sector is underpinned by a robust occupational market, which is attracting investors from around the globe. Jack Cox, Head of EMEA Industrial and Logistics Capital Markets

Driven by aggressive asset pricing and limited availability of core stock, investors globally have become increasingly resourceful in finding innovative ways to deploy capital. In EMEA, 72% of respondents indicated that they were already invested in alternatives and 70% said they were actively pursuing opportunities in the sector.

Alternatives have seen a 45% increase in investment volumes in the last ten years, resulting in €23.6 billion of transactions in 2017. Investors are most frequently targeting student housing (53%), retirement living (38%) and real estate debt (37%); an area where they are looking to increase exposure in 2018. This broadly mirrors the trends we are seeing globally.

In addition to sector preferences, the survey also analysed geographic considerations. Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London were the five most sought-after destinations in Europe for European investors. Paris jumped from fifth to first place, compared to 2017, boosted by expectations that the political and economic momentum from H2 2017 will have a positive impact on the real estate market. London remains the highest priority target for investors outside of Europe and will undoubtedly continue to see the highest volume of investment activity of any European city.

Jonathan Hull, Managing Director, EMEA Investment Properties, CBRE

While sentiment does not always translate directly into investment volumes, investor preferences do indicate which markets may see heightened activity over the next 12 months. We have seen a shift in sentiment in France for many months now, following the election of President Macron and the subsequent economic momentum this has created. Madrid has seen strong investor interest thanks to improving economic fundamentals. Limited development activity and declining vacancy rates in Amsterdam have boosted its appeal over time. The current strength of the German economy and the lack of supply continue to drive investor demand in all of its key markets. Jonathan Hull, Managing Director, EMEA Investment Properties, CBRE

Despite 2017 being a record year for real estate investment in Europe, with volumes totaling €291 billion, European investors expect to deploy more capital in 2018 than they did in 2017. A third of EMEA investors (33%) expect to spend more this year than last, compared to 26% last year. At a global level, 45% of investors anticipate committing more capital to real estate. However, as in 2017, availability of product remains a primary concern for investors in 2018, proving to be the biggest obstacle for 34% of European respondents, a challenge that investors are facing around the globe.

Asset pricing has become a key concern for investors, and is even more pronounced than in last year’s survey. Nearly half (44%) of EMEA respondents highlighted it as an obstacle to investment, compared to 38% in 2017. At the same time, the sector continues to appear reasonably priced relative to other asset classes, particularly considering the high-income return and defensive characteristics real estate offers. Competitive pricing of assets is also encouraging some investors looking to sell real estate, with 40% of investors expecting to sell more in 2018 than in 2017. A higher propensity to sell as well as to buy bodes well for market liquidity in 2018.

Jos Tromp, Head of EMEA research at CBRE

With limited stock availability, we are expecting to see a continuation of investment activity at a corporate entity level as investors seek to find ways to increase their exposure to real estate. Prime yields are at an all-time low, so investors are looking at alternative asset classes through which to spread their risk, protect themselves against a possible downturn and take advantage of the structural changes that are underpinning demand in these sectors. Jos Tromp, Head of EMEA research at CBRE