12 month rental growth of retail property worldwide Q2 2021, by region

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, retail foot traffic drastically decreased, and many retailers were subject to restrictive measures to contain the spread of the virus. As a result, retail real estate was one of the worst hit real estate sectors. In the second quarter of 2021, in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, rental rates of retail space fell by approximately 9.8 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

How do other commercial real estate sectors perform?

Both industrial and office real estate performed better than retail real estate, when comparing the rental growth between the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021. Nevertheless, industrial property saw a positive rental growth in this period. When it comes to the investment market, the situation was similar: industrial real estate market performed substantially betterin terms of capital value growth than the other submarkets.

Is the commercial real estate investment market recovering?

In the second and third quarters of 2020, the volume of commercial real estate investment transactions plummeted across all regions worldwide. In the fourth quarter, investment volumes spiked, compensating for the lower levels throughout the year and showing that the market is in the process of recovery. Nevertheless, the first quarter of 2021 showed slower investment activity compared to the same period in the previous year.