LONDON – Global direct real estate investment is forecast to rise 20 percent this year to $380 billion, led by a sharp rebound in the United States, with total volumes still about half the market’s 2007 peak, a report said. Investments in commercial real estate – mainly offices, malls, and industrial properties – had reached $316 billion in 2010, a 50 percent jump from an eight-year low of $209 billion in 2009, property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle said. Investment volumes soared to $759 billion at the market’s peak in 2007, before the property bubble burst and helped trigger the 2008 global financial crisis. “Barring further sovereign debt crises or financial shocks, the momentum of 2010 is expected to continue over the next 12 months and we predict global volumes for 2011 should increase by 20 to 25 percent,” said Arthur de Haast, head of the firm’s International Capital Group. For 2011, Jones Lang expects volumes in the Americas region to jump 40 percent to $135 billion from last year, and for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific regions to rise by between 10 and 15 percent to $150 billion and $95 billion, respectively. “The Americas’ recovery has mainly been underpinned by investor interest in core gateway cities like New York, Washington DC, San Francisco and Rio de Janeiro,” said Steve Collins, a Jones Lang managing director.
