$14 billion of Paris real estate sold in 2011; real estate purchase volumes up worldwide

According to Jones Lang LaSalle in its 2011 Global Capital Flows report, there was US$411 billion of direct commercial investment globally in 2011, a 28% increase over 2010.

“Despite the financial crisis over the past two years, commercial real estate remains a core asset class for many investors,” said David Green-Morgan, Global Capital Markets Research Director at Jones Lang LaSalle. What’s more, “It was the surge in Europe, up by 8%, that was most surprising given investor sentiment in the region at present.”

In Europe, the French led the way, with a doubling of investment volumes both domestically and abroad from the 3rd to the 4th quarter 2011, from US$3.4 billion in Q3 to US$7.6 billion in Q4. This substantial increase meant that 2011 investment from French investors was 55 percent higher than in 2010. The single largest source of real estate capital worldwide was the United States, with more than US$25 billion of investment in the 4th quarter 2011, and over US$100 billion total in 2011.

Asian and Canadian investors bought more property than they sold, while real estate investors in Europe, Australia and the US were net sellers.

Paris finished the year as the third most actively traded city in the world, with US$14 billion worth of real estate changing hands, a 24% increase from 2010. London and New York topped the list with real estate sales of US$24.3 and US$19.2 billion respectively. Impressively, New York’s volume was up 75% from its 2010 level.