Western Europe 'most attractive location for logistics commercial property investment'

Two-thirds of the leading players in Europe's industrial and logistics commercial property sector regard Western Europe as the most attractive region for investment over the next three years, a new survey by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has found.

The poll was taken at the real estate specialist's recent European industrial and logistics conference "Unlocking the Power of Three", which was attended by more than 80 investors, developers and occupiers in the sector.

Among other findings, the survey revealed that as economies recover and industrial occupier demand improves, over half of the respondents believed flexibility will be the most important incentive for landlords to offer tenants.

It also showed that although economic contraction has affected development activity, investors and developers generally expect to develop more space over the next three years, as compared to the last three.

James Markby, director of EMEA industrial and logistics at CBRE, commented: "European investors continue to see a strong rationale for holding logistics assets in their portfolios, due to the sector's defensive characteristics, a view supported by our survey, with nearly 40 per cent of respondents stating that stability of returns is their main motivation for holding logistics space in their portfolios, and 27 per cent favouring the sector for diversification."

Meanwhile, Investment Property Databank's monthly index last week revealed that UK commercial property values rose 0.5 per cent in June.