MIPIM 2014, which closed on Friday, demonstrated a marked improvement in confidence among property investors. The annual industry gathering celebrated its 25th anniversary against the backdrop of a year of strong market growth which suggests the recovery from the crash of 2007 is well underway.
Over 20,000 delegates from 93 countries attended the four day event in Cannes, including around 4,500 property investors. What was evident is that, while key locations remain hugely attractive to international investors, they now have the confidence to look to other markets.
John Forrester is DTZ’s chief executive for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and he says that it is no longer just a case of investing in the “usual suspects” such as London or Paris. Today, he continues, investors are increasingly targeting other locations and specific sectors based on the attractiveness of those markets.
Some of these markets can be found among the countries which were hardest hit by the economic downturn. Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Spain all bounced back more strongly than anticipated during 2013 and are, once again, the subject of attention from investors.
In Ireland, for example, transactions were three times higher in 2013 than they were the previous year. This is expected to continue during 2014 with Savills forecasting a further rise in transactions in the coming months.
The same scenario is forecast for Spain where retail property investment also trebled last year. During MIPIM the Madrid and Barcelona stands both attracted scores of interested delegates keen to learn about the opportunities that exist in the cities.
It also became clear that Asian investors are now key players in the market having completed €7 billion worth of transactions in the second half of 2013 alone. The UK was the preferred location of the majority of this investment.
As always, there were a number of major commercial developments being heavily promoted at MIPIM.
A huge model of Moscow drew the attention of delegates to the ambitious plan to develop a Russian equivalent of Silicon Valley on the outskirts of the city.
Turkey was keen to showcase a 1.6 million sq m mixed use development in Istanbul while Paris unveiled plans for the first two towers to be built in the French capital for 40 years.
Finally, the Brazilian city of Maricá presented the Niemeyer Oceanarium, the final project of the internationally acclaimed architect, Oscar Niemeyer, who died last year aged 104.
