Investors remain keen on retail premises
The growth in investment in European commercial real estate assets has stabilised since the beginning of the year (+17% y-o-y in Q3 2025). Investment in retail grew 26% y-o-y in Q3 2025, maintaining its momentum and enjoying the strongest growth of all the real estate asset categories, outpacing hotels (+15%); offices (+13%) and logistics (-7%).
In terms of the amounts invested, retail is ranked in 3rd place among real estate categories, with over € 38bn invested in Q3 2025, i.e. 23% of the total CRE investment volume (vs. 16% at the end of 2021, at the nadir of the Covid crisis). The sector is just behind offices (26%) and logistics (24%) while hotels account for 13% of investment, substantially more than the 10-year average of 8%.
Although the UK, Germany and France have historically accounted for the greater part of the investment in retail property in Europe, accounting for around 80% on average over the last ten years, their share of the total fell in the third quarter of 2025 year-on-year to just 73% (€ 18.9bn). In closer detail, Italy matched France, with around € 3bn invested, up 24% year-on-year in Q3 2025. Spain and Poland also performed robustly, with investment up +37% and +124% respectively year-on-year.
Trends varied between segments. Deals for street-level stores fell significantly (-18%) compared to the year-earlier period, totalling € 7.6bn in the main European countries[1]. This contraction was due to the adjustment of the luxury sector, which was boosted in 2024 by the major deal on Via Monte Napoleone 8 in Milan.
In the leading European markets, investment in shopping centres surged (+53%) with € 8.0bn allocated over the last 12 months, showing investors' growing interest in this asset class. There have been several major shopping centre deals over the past year, including a portfolio of three shopping centres in Italy for € 410m and the Oriocenter in Lombardy for € 450m. There was also a deal for € 363.8m involving the Brent Cross shopping centre in London.
Lastly, investment in suburban retail in the main European countries came to € 10.5bn over the last 12 months, up 13% year-on-year. This segment offers investors more affordable access to commercial real estate and a range of different transaction sizes, particularly during periods of inflation and in the wake of the Covid crisis.
[1] The six main European markets: Germany, Qpain, France, Italy, Poland and the UK
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