Steady start of the year concerning business property market in Europe
The business property market had a very strong start in the beginning of the year. The investments increased by approximately 16% during the first quarter compared with the previous three months by € 32,7 billion, data of Cushman & Wakefield reveal. The investment volume reached € 136,7 billion within the twelve months up until the end of March, which is a growth of a 4,4% annual base, the online edition of property-magazine.eu. informs.The market activity is supported by means of the enhanced debt funding as well as through the private capital. Besides, the offering of most required first-class assets, remains restricted, which supports the price increase. This does not attract a huge part of the investors who look for alternative solutions and higher income, the edition points out.
Experts focus on the fact that the inertness that the market has gathered within the first three months of the year would reflect on the entire year. The expectation is higher business property market activity and a bigger number of investors opting for more risky stocks – for instance, Central and Eastern Europe.
The company management envisages that the total volume of the business property investments in Europe will grow by about 4-5% compared with the accounted levels last year.
In spite of the restricted offering and the low income, the first-class assets keep being most demanded. The investment volume of the three major markets – Great Britain, Germany and France , increased from 57% to 64% during the first quarter previous year.
More essential market activity growth is registered not only in Denmark but also in Germany, in Russia, in the Czech Republic, in Hungary, in Luxembourg and in the Netherlands. A growth has been also registered in Israel and in Greece but they have very low base, the report shows. Higher activity is also a fact in Italy while the situation in Spain and in Portugal remains pessimistic. Surprisingly, Turkey and the whole Near East region, joins the group of the low-activity countries.
The first-class assets deficit and the high prices in Sweden have lead to lower activity in the country as the growths of the Danish market are not able to compensate it and this has influenced negatively on the entire Scandinavian region.
The industrial properties in Europe have the largest investment share – the investment volume has reached 77% on annual base, and the part of the general investment volume of business properties has increased from 8% to 11,4% the same time previous year.
Offices remain most preferred assets for the investors but the first quarter is disappointing for the segment. The investment volume in European offices has slashed by 5% on annual base and their share of the total volume has slashed from 49% down to 43% within one year. The markets in France, Sweden, Great Britain, Norway and Spain have mainly contributed to this slump.
Investors in trade properties have become more selective as the investment volume accounted a slight slump compared with the last quarter previous year but it increases by 34% during the first quarter of 2012. The share of the total investment volume has slightly jumped from 22% to 25% , the company reveals. The steadiest deals growth is a fact in France and Russia, experts add.
Crossborder investment remain exceptionally crucial for most of the European markets but at the same time biggest activity slump is registered exactly among the foreign investors during the first quarter. However, home investors have remained exceptionally active and they manage to compensate the slump.
Being an American, I want to write a review that is specific for US buyers, it’s going to be as long as the review from the gentleman from the UK. :) The process for purchasing property in Bulgaria requires the assistance of lawyers. Because we are not in the E.U. there will be additional steps to take that require a visit to the Embassy in the US or if that is not possible, some extra steps to officiate paperwork in Bulgaria. For these reasons you must work with someone very professional, knowledgeable, and of course, trustworthy. I can tell you that Kiki is all of those things and right to the point: she is an expert. For Kiki, she makes the process as easy as breathing. She’s extremely knowledgeable about purchasing property under any circumstance, for any nationality, and even during a global health scare. Nothing whatsoever was any hurdle or issue. Because of the different issues US citizens face, I will be quite lengthy in this review, to review Kiki’s expertise and professionalism, and review the process of investing in Bulgarian property using bulgarianhouse.com.??I chose to purchase property online, totally remotely due to the health crisis. I am located in NY and it was not possible to travel during the restrictions. I have lived in Europe before, I am familiar with the lifestyle, the land, and country villages, so I personally had no hesitation about wanting to invest in a Bulgarian country home, having never been there. For those considering buying remotely I will say that the village is as important as the house. You can use Google earth, research the village names, and watch videos and video travel vlogs about all of them on Youtube. Kiki has dozens-hundreds of listings, she works very fast and you will have many excellent options. From start to finish it was only a few steps of getting documents officiated at the Embassy. I made a mistake and didn’t get the right stamp at the NY Bulgarian Embassy, and within one hour of us realizing it, Kiki had emailed the Embassy, and texted me the agent’s personal phone number -so that I could get a new appointment, first thing the next morning. Which I did.Can you even imagine anything like that in America? This is how Kiki works. Everything is taken care of by Kiki, the expert. This extended everywhere I went. Bulgarian people working at the Embassy: they will treat you like royalty. At every step of the way, I became more sure and more excited about every aspect of this process, and my investment.? There are (minor) extra legal steps taken in Bulgaria to complete the process and all of it must be done in Bulgarian and with the help of a lawyer. Here Kiki being an expert and having everything worked out professionally, means this will also go quickly and easily. I feel like I snapped my fingers and it was over because of Kiki making everything so easy for me. I now own my dream country home that my family and I will love to fix up and enjoy. Kiki went an extra step to send updated photographs to me, and I was so pleased to see there were extra rooms in the house that I had not seen in the listing, and lovely buildings on the edge of the property which I am thrilled about. From this process I feel like I got more than I paid for because of the extra service that Kiki offers her clients. It would be unthinkable for me to buy from anyone else and we are already looking at other properties for the extended family.??A note about buying remotely: times have changed. Because of the health scare, many businesses went exclusively online. I work in renovation, design and construction, so I feel ok sizing up properties from images, knowing I have the experience to handle it. For those that don’t, I think you can rely on Kiki to make excellent recommendations for what you need, and she will be honest about every condition of every home, and she’s very good at this type of help as well. For me, because of what it would cost for airlines and hotels to visit first before purchase, I decided I would rather put that money in the purchase of the property itself, and I’m so glad I did. For other Americans considering investing in homes and property in Bulgaria, I can’t say enough positive things about my experience and how happy this has been for me, and I would not even consider working with another agent than Kiki and bulgarianhouse.com. To any American reading this with any hesitation about the ease of this process, don’t have any stress or concerns whatsoever. I was told exactly what would happen, and then it did exactly as explained. Incredibly, even with me not speaking Bulgarian and a major time difference, it literally could not have gone any better, there was no stress whatsoever, and it has made me and my family very happy.
— Kim Holleman, United States