The old mantra ‘location, location, location’ will be the driving point for 2013 commercial real estate investment strategies, according to the results of the Global Investor Sentiment Survey published by Colliers International.
Colliers forecasts investment volumes will grow slowly and steadily in Western markets through 2013, as core investment opportunities will become more difficult to find as investors zero in on just a few key locations. For sector preference, Colliers determines that investors will target the office sector from a global standpoint. In the U.S. and Latin America, the industrial sector ranked highest, whereas Australia, Canada and New Zealand saw increasing interest in shopping center investments.
Though many investors surveyed by Colliers stated they were more comfortable investing in their local markets, at least one out of four confirmed they would seek out international real estate ventures. Investors who look offshore tend to favor Western Europe, while some Asian investors were likely to explore property opportunities in Australia and New Zealand.
While wealth preservation and secure income are expected to remain a priority for the majority of investors in 2013, Colliers forecasts that investors in the U.S., Asia and Latin America are the mostly likely to take on more risk during the next six months.
‘Major investors are becoming more critical when selecting their investment locations,’ says Tony Horrell, CEO for the U.K. and Ireland at Colliers International. ‘This is supported by the overarching themes we found when asking respondents about their investment strategies – they are more likely to look at home locations first, and when they do look at international opportunities, they are far more specific about the individual markets and sectors in which they are interested.’
