Commercial real estate investment in the core Western European markets – UK, Germany and France – was particularly strong in Q3 2013. Investment in UK commercial property was at the highest level since Q3 2007 with €14.1 billion of transactions completed in Q3 2013 - a 19 percent increase over Q3 2012. Germany, with €6.2 billion in Q3 2013, showed a 21 percent increase over Q3 2012. France also had its highest Q3 investment activity since 2007 with €4.6 billion - a 39 percent increase on Q3 2012. These markets also posted sequential gains compared with Q2 2013, with investment activity for all of Europe improving 7 percent compared with the prior quarter.

The markets that were most affected by the eurozone crisis - Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain - recovered strongly in H1 2013 and this trend continued in the third quarter. In Southern Europe (Spain, Italy and Portugal) commercial real estate investment totaled €2.2 billion in Q3 2013, up by 145 percent on Q3 2012. Investment activity in Ireland increased 354 percent over the same period. This performance shows that opportunistic investors are returning to Europe and targeting recovering markets.

Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) commercial real estate investment totaled €2.3 billion in Q3 2013, up 33 percent on Q3 2012. Activity in the CEE was led by the core markets of Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Despite the fact that commercial real estate investment in Russia in Q3 2013 is 17 percent lower than in 2012, YTD investments indicated impressive 46 percent increase. Investment volumes exceeded $1 billion mark 6th quarter in a row. Average quarterly investment volumes reached really high $1.6 billion.  (source: europaproperty.com)