Key takeaways from Colliers' newest Sentiment report include:

-- Shifting Focus on Fundamentals: Increasingly, investors are shifting
decision-making criteria to focus on property fundamentals and yield. In
the U.S. and the U.K., a shortage of commercial property is driving
investor confidence.
-- Increased Risk Appetite: In several regions, investors are becoming more
willing to take risk when it comes to future investments in order to
generate higher returns. However, EMEA investors remain cautious after
the Eurozone crisis.
-- Expansion on the Horizon: Seventy percent of the survey respondents plan
to expand property portfolios in the next six months. In the U.S. and
U.K., where steady economic improvement is expected in 2014, foreign and
domestic investors will continue to drive capital flows. The survey
shows continued growth in Asia outbound capital with investors spending
$44.7 billion dollars on property outside their own country according to
Real Capital Analytics (RCA) year-to-date Q1-Q3, 2013.
-- Greater Competition in Stable Markets: Many investors cited difficulties
in finding good investment opportunities, despite having plenty of
capital. As a result, competition is growing in stable markets as
investors strive to maintain secure returns. A large amount of capital
is flowing from high-risk nations into more liquid safe-haven markets,
especially gateway cities such as London, Tokyo, Sydney, and New York
City which remain popular destinations for both cross-border and local
capital.
-- Keeping Capital Local: Most survey respondents prefer to invest in
markets close to home, with only 10 percent looking outside of their
domestic region for investment opportunities. Some who choose to invest
across borders are sticking close to home regions, with Canadian
investors spending nearly $8 billion dollars on property in the U.S.
alone. U.K. investors are focusing on European markets spending $7.8
billion dollars on property investments outside their own country
between fiscal Q1 and Q3 2013 according to (RCA).
-- Office Properties Stay on Top: Globally, office property investment is
the most popular, with industrial and logistics close behind for U.S.
and Latin American investors. For Canadian buyers, retail takes the top
spot, fuelling billions of dollars of capital growth domestically and in
the U.S, as retailers look to expand into new markets.
-- Cost of Debt Expected to Rise: Nearly half of the survey respondents
expected the cost of debt to rise. Most investors are keeping a close
watch on the U.S. Federal Reserve as it recovers from the 2013
Government Shutdown. However, large increases in transaction volume in
secondary markets like Las Vegas, Indianapolis and Philadelphia indicate
increased optimism in the U.S. Government's ability to recover.

"Higher confidence will lead to greater investment in the coming year, even as buyers face the challenge of finding attractive opportunities, investment criteria will have to be more flexible," Horrell concludes.

For more details and to view the full 38-page report, visit Colliers.