Paris Next Up for Real Estate Investment

PARIS-With international real estate investors from all sides currently trying to invest in London property, Paris will be the next market in focus, with Germany not long behind, says Giles Wilcox, the director of cross-border investment for the international realtor Savills.

Wilcox told PFE recently, “The UK has been very active in recent months, and we have been inundated with internationals wanting to come into the market from every country you can think of…However Paris will be in focus over the next 12 months, though pricing is nonetheless still an issue there.” Among the enquiries for UK property have been some from potential investors based, for instance, in Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and mainland China, some of whom have also expressed interest in other European markets.”

He said the state of individual economies and occupier markets are fundamental to all investment decisions but capital is now beginning to flow in many directions. Savills has, for example, seen investment capital from Spain, in particular from high net worth individuals, seeking a home in other European markets. “On the buy side it is the Germans who have been dominantly active so far and therefore the key question is who is there if you take the Germans out of the equation,” he says.