If there was a theme for commercial real estate in 2013, it was one of recovery. The global market grew by $549 billion (€400 billion), an increase of 18 percent on 2012, according to data from Jones Lang LaSalle. Despite growth in Asian real estate markets and Japan blazing a trail by doubling volumes in yen terms, emerging markets have not bounced back from the effects of the global financial crisis.

With risk-free assets a concept consigned to history — for now, at least — there is a tsunami of money looking for a relatively safe, preferably index-linked, home and Europe has been the beneficiary.

Continental shift

The sheer volume of global capital washing around the European real estate market is delivering volumes not seen since before the collapse of Lehman Bros in 2008. European commercial real estate topped €132 billion in 2013, according to data from