France: Mixed results for logistics property market in Q1 2017

20.04.2017

France: Mixed results for logistics property market in Q1 2017
Business Immo, 20 Apr 2017, online:-
After a record year in 2016 with the commissioning of 3.80mn m2, the performance of the French logistics property market was more mixed during the first quarter of 2017 and the volume was significantly lower than in the same period of the previous year. This was mainly due to fewer sales of existing structures, whereas the share of new developments is rising sharply, accounting for more than two thirds of demand in January-March 2017. Turnkey projects represented the six largest transactions of the quarter, including Lidl with 58,000 m2 in Montchanin, Amazon with 107,000 m2 in Boves and Alinea with 73,000 m2 in Nanteuil. Very large properties are back in the limelight, with four transactions for properties of over 50,000 m2 taking place in the first three months of 2017, and although the Île-de-France market is facing a downturn (-41% compared to Q1 2016), it is expected to resurface very quickly thanks to several major projects currently under negotiation. US-based commercial real estate company CBRE has noted between six and eight projects with a surface area of over 600,000 m2, potentially undertaken in 2017, in this region. Activity in the Île-de-France industrial market suggests a good year in 2017 thanks to strong demand, which reached 645,600 m2 in the quarter compared to 556,000 m2 in the same period of 2016. With transactions for less than EUR 300mn (USD 318.38mn), investments in industrial and logistic properties have started off small, although the outlook for the coming months is promising, as major logistics portfolios are now being offered for sale and investors are showing a growing appetite for logistics structures as part of a diversification strategy.
©M-Brain
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