DTZ's European Commercial Property Markets Overview 2002 predicts that the availability of office space in Europe will remain near a 10-year low as developers and investors have adopted a more measured approach to investment, following the excesses of the last property boom. DTZ says that rents are likely to remain flat for the foreseeable future but there is little danger of oversupply.

Gardiner & Theobald's 10th annual survey of international construction costs says that the global inflation rate in this sector will slip to 1.4% next year. The European figure is likely to be slightly higher with both France and Italy pedicted to esperience cost escalations at around 3% and with the Olympic Games pushing up costs in Greece by 5%.

And a new report from King Sturge predicts that industrial has a bright future in locations with relatively low land values and within a short drive-time of major markets. In France, it cites Lille, Strasbourg, Paris, Lyon and Marseille, Liege in Belgium and Milan in Italy.