The number of offices sold — Europe’s largest real estate sector — fell to its lowest on record, while the volume of transactions slumped to a 13-year low of 10.8 billion euros . The United Kingdom kept its top spot as Europe’s largest commercial real estate market, but Paris overtook London to become the region’s most active investment destination, with the three largest European property deals of the first quarter all taking place in the French capital.
A recent JPMorgan investor survey cited commercial real estate as the most likely cause of the next financial crisis. Some of the largest banks in the United States have singled out commercial real estate as an area of concern, while European banks have less direct exposure to the sector, according to International Monetary Fund estimates.