It should have come as no surprise to anyone that when INREV, the European Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles, released the results of its 2010 investor intentions survey, good ol’ safe core was the strategy favoured by an overwhelming majority of investors (78 percent in 2010 compared with 38 percent in 2009). To execute that strategy, investors said they are looking first to the United Kingdom, and then to France. And, to emphasise just how hard-core they are, the majority are lusting only after prime office investments, believing that retail and industrial might carry a little too much risk.

Because more than three-quarters of investors are looking to invest in prime core assets, there has been an almost astonishing turnaround in prime financial markets, such as London and Paris, which is now beginning to expand to