European investment volumes for industrial and logistic properties in 2014 reached a record €21.1bn, up 28 percent from the previous year, according to JLL. Volumes in the final quarter alone reached €8.2bn, setting a new quarterly record. The UK and Germany led with €8.2bn and €3.6bn worth of investments, respectively. Portfolio transactions were the main driver across Europe with the total volume exceeding €10bn last year, up 25 percent from 2013. Almost 50 percent of the portfolio assets traded were located in the UK and Germany, while CE portfolio transactions reach €1.4bn (up from just €25m in 2013). New annual records were also seen in the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland.
“It has been an outstanding year for logistics and industrial investment across Europe,” says Dušan Šťastník, associate director for capital markets at JLL Czech Republic. “Both CEE and in particular the Czech Republic attracted a record amount of investment into the logistics and industrial segment, reflecting how the region has become one of the core European markets. The Czech Republic attracted more than €750m into logistics, a number which puts the country ahead of much large countries such as Poland, Spain and Italy.”
