A new Global Commercial Property Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has highlighted that Europe is faring the worst when it comes to global commercial property markets.
Whilst investors seem to be positive about markets away from Europe, the continent is still seeing declines in activity and negative predictions for the future of values and rents, especially in the Netherlands and France. In such markets, demand has vastly decreased in the first three months of the year, and values are set to further be slashed in 2013.
In conjunction with this, forecasts have been positive in regions further out such as Russia, Canada and Japan. The latter in particular has seen great improvements due to various governmental policies being put in place. Numbers have also been increasing in the UAE, China, US and Hong Kong.
Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: "The easing in risks premia has continued to underpin the global real estate market with a few notable exceptions. Significantly, Asia continues to be particularly attractive for investors but other parts of the globe including North America...are also seeing a greater level of interest."
It was not all bad news for Europe however. Investor interest had grown at its fastest pace ever in Spain, meaning that capital values were starting to be on the rise. The same news applied for Ireland, Belgium and Czech Republic. The top markets in the survey were Russia and Germany, which saw rises in both rental expectation and tenant demand, whilst demand for distressed property was also increasing.
Survey respondents were generally positive about global markets, especially when it came to North America, the UAE and Asia. Investment market is set to still be ahead of the occupier market, even though commercial lending from banks still seems to be struggling.