The majority of real estate professionals expect the amount of Asian capital invested into the European real estate market to increase over the coming two years with the UK being the top destination for investment.

Investment flows into Europe will continue to grow according to Intertrust

Source: Shutterstock/WHYFRAME

Despite on-going uncertainty around Brexit the survey by Intertrust predicts the UK will remain the top choice for real estate investment with 56% of respondents expecting it to see the biggest increase in Asian capital flows, followed by the Nordics (48%) and the DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) region (37%).

The trust and commercial management company found that just 7% of respondents to the survey believed Asian foreign direct investment into European real estate would fall in the next 24 months, compared to 67% who anticipated capital levels rising.

Europe’s ‘safe haven’ status, the continuing search for yield and the high demand among non-banks, such as Asian sovereign wealth funds, were identified as the top three drivers behind investment in the region.

Jon Barratt, head of real estate at Intertrust, said: “Although 2017 was noted for record-breaking volumes of Asian capital pouring into European commercial real estate, our findings suggest that there is still more to come. While China remains the largest investor, South Korea and Singapore have been increasingly active.”

“Growing Asian demand is welcome news for investors looking to sell assets but less welcome for those looking to extend their exposure to bricks and mortar.”

Global real estate investment hit a record $1.62trn (£1.14trn) in 2017 compared to $1.43trn in 2016 with even more to come in 2018, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest report.