Global Commercial Real Estate Investment in 2018 Enjoys Best Year Since 2007

Yet Caution is Building in 2019

Global real estate consultant JLL is reporting this week that despite rising global uncertainty impacting Q4 investment, 2018 was the best year since 2007 for global commercial real estate markets, with volumes hitting $733 billion.

Regional performance throughout the year was led by the Americas where outperformance was driven by the U.S. APAC bounced back from a relatively slow third quarter to hit a new all-time full-year high, while EMEA saw investment sales activity drop, despite growth in some core markets.

Even though yields remain at record lows in many global markets, occupier fundamentals are strong with rents set to grow into 2019.

JLL further reports that this year will see more indirect investment, entity-level transactions, recapitalizations and debt. Although, a more cautious trading environment will impact investment activity by 5% to 10%, with full-year 2019 volumes set to be around $680 billion.