Northern Europe 'best for commercial property investment'

Business investors looking to transfer money online and purchase commercial property overseas may want to consider one expert's comments on the best location.

Director of commercial research at Savills Mat Oakley described how certain parts of Europe offer the best option for profit growth in 2012.

He suggested looking at countries such as Germany, Scandinavia and France, which appear to have the best prospects going forward.

According to Mr Oakley, these nations have a positive outlook as they are facing "fairly significant undersupplies of commercial space of all types at the prime-end of the market and a gentle recovery in demand".

The property specialist warned against assuming the whole European market is a viable option, as he commented that "sovereign debt imperilled countries" are best avoided.

Purchasing a buy-to-let commercial property in the US may be another option for investors, as the nation's markets are said to be "undoubtedly recovering".

Mr Oakley noted that vacancy rates are falling and there are signs of rental growth in the markets outside of just Manhattan.

However, the specialist warned individuals to be careful when investing in the US as the country still has "a lot of worries" with regard to its sovereign debt problem and the consumer side of the economy.

It was suggested when looking for profitable commercial property with rental growth potential the US is unlikely to be top of most people's "pile".

"It remains the equity-rich and relatively debt-stable countries of the Pacific Rim that probably offer the best prospects," Mr Oakley concluded.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors recently reported that commercial property markets in Europe struggled to keep pace with other parts of the world in the final quarter of 2011.

Posted by Sarah Pitton

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