European Commercial Deals Increase

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European commercial real estate investment totaled €31.1 billion ($40.8 billion) for the second quarter of 2013, a 13 percent increase from the same period a year ago, according to the latest data from CBRE. 

This is the third quarter of strong activity for the market as investor optimism grows. 

"This growth in commercial property investment activity comes at a time when other asset classes have been experiencing increased volatility due to concerns over the future of quantitative easing (QE) and further issues surrounding the euro," Jonathan Hull, head of EMEA capital markets, CBRE said in the release.

Germany continues to lead the investment market. During the last four quarters, Germany reported €28.4 billion of commercial real estate investment, a 36 percent increase from the previous 12 months, CBRE reported. 

Sweden and Norway have seen strong investment activity for several quarters, while investment remained moderate in the U.K. and France during the second quarter compared to last year, CBRE said. In the U.K. activity decreased 6.5 percent.

Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland -- the European economies most affected by the euro crisis -- continued to show recovery with a combined total of €2.5 billion of investment activity during the second quarter, up from less than €1 billion last year. 

As investor interest increases, commercial deals in Europe reached a five-year high, Cushman & Wakefield recently reported.