Quarterly real estate transactions in Europe have plummeted to the lowest level in six years, as the Covid-19 pandemic put the brakes on investment.

There was €50bn across in Q2, down 32% from the same period last year, according to Real Capital Analytics.

The European BTR investment market was the only sector to defy the declines, rising by 22% through a series of large corporate portfolio deals.

The number of deals fell by 48% year-on-year, to the lowest point since 2013. Drops were focused around smaller transactions, with a 55% decline deals under €20m.

Capital was concentrated in Germany, with €16.3bn (up 5%), the UK €9.6bn (down 16%) and France €6bn (down 37%).

Notable transactions included ADO Properties’ €5bn acquisition of Alder Real Estate and Aroundtown’s €4.7bn acquisition of TLG Immobilien, with the two rental deals making up two-thirds of the sales in Germany.

The UK was similarly bolstered by Blackstone’s €5.3bn iQ student housing deal.

Tom Leahy, senior director for EMEA analytics at RCA, said: “Physical restrictions prevent property viewings and the potential economic fallout provides enough uncertainty to limit dealmaking when property prices are at record levels in many markets.”

Though he pointed out that Europe has not been impacted to the extent as some markets in North America and Asia Pacific.