With the exception of Germany and Poland, markets are cooling off compared with the dynamic last quarter of 2011

Most European industrial property markets recorded a quiet start of this year after the strong recovery in the last quarter of 2011, was written in an analysis of the consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle, as reported by the online edition PropertyEU.info.

The limited availability of prime assets for sale was the reason for the reduced volume of investments in this market segment to 1.5 billion, or 40% below the 2.5 billion recorded a year earlier, experts indicate.

In the UK, France and Germany, which are the three largest markets in Europe were invested 1.2 billion euros, or 80% of total investments in industrial properties registered in the period from January to March this year.

Most markets are relatively stagnant compared to the end of 2011, except for Germany and Poland, where were conducted two major portfolio transactions. As a result, Germany reports 12% increase in the volume of investments for the first quarter on an annual basis, and in Poland the rise was with 37%.

The current declining activity is the result of lack of opportunities for investment in prime properties and lingering economic pressures that continue to restrict the availability of debt financing.

However, there is a positive side obvious from the increasing demand from a highly wide range of investors. Therefore, analysts expect the volume of transactions of industrial properties throughout 2012, to be comparable to that from 2011.
 

Domaza - Properties