European real estate loan sales top €12 billion

Photo: Automaticjoy

New figures from Cushman & Wakefield show that its EMEA Corporate Finance team recorded €12.2 billion of closed European commercial real estate (CRE) loan and real estate owned (REO) transactions in Q1. The rise has been characterised by a "notable increase" of activity in Italy, with over €1 billion of closed transactions recorded - over double the volume recorded in the whole of 2014.

"After a record-breaking 2014, last quarter’s overall performance represented a decrease of 49 per cent on the totals for both Q1 2014 and Q4 2014.  However, this reiterates the staggering level of activity witnessed in 2014 which was bolstered by the deleveraging of IBRC, NAMA and RBS," explains the report.

Nontheless, the Q1 2015 figure makes up more than half (53 per cent) of the total volume recorded in the whole of 2012, when only  €23.2 billion of transactions were completed.

There were several big deals in Q1 that boosts the figures, including Permanent TSB, which completed the sale of its Capital Home Loans servicing platform and the €3.5 billion of associated residential loans to Cerberus.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Head of EMEA Loan Sales, Federico Montero, said: "Although completed transaction volumes are slightly down on those recorded for 2014, there are plenty of large transactions being prepared for the market which will boost activity in the second half of the year and catch the eyes of awaiting investors.  As predicted, we have already seen a noticeable uplift in the number of sales coming from Italy, which was the third most active European country in the first quarter.”

Cushman & Wakefield forecasts that closed sales for 2015 will be between €60 and €70 billion.