Paris emerged as the most liquid real estate market in the world

Global property consultant JLL is reporting this week that worldwide commercial real estate investment volumes increased by 10% in the fourth quarter of 2019, to $245 billion. This brought full-year activity to $800 billion, up 4% from the elevated levels seen in 2018, making 2019 the strongest year for commercial real estate investment on record.

Established markets drive growth across all three regions

In the Americas, regional activity increased by 15%, to $97 billion, during the fourth quarter. This, combined with the outperformance seen in Q3, boosted full-year volumes by 12%, to $347 billion. Driving regional performance is the U.S., where full-year volumes were underpinned by unwavering investor demand for industrial assets and continued resilience in the office sector. In Canada, annual sales activity is up by 9%, due mainly to concentrated activity in core office markets such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. In Latin America, Mexico and Brazil each saw double-digit growth in 2019 due to large-scale industrial transactions in both markets… read more