Nordic & Swiss Economic Outlook SNB lagging behind in the monetary tightening cycle Economic growth in Switzerland and across the Nordics looks set to remain pretty strong over the coming years. But inflationary pressures vary significantly between countries. We think that central... 20th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Higher Italian bond yields increase risks for property The recent spike in Italian government bond yields is likely to be sustained for the foreseeable future, increasing the risk of a sharper re-pricing for Italian commercial property than we are... 20th July 2018 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Putting the EU’s surplus in a global context The EU’s and, particularly, Germany’s trade practices have been criticised heavily by President Trump, prompting him in early July to label the trade bloc “as bad as China”. However, from a global... 20th July 2018 · 1 min read
ECB Watch Optimistic but cautious Having announced last month that asset purchases will end in December, the ECB is unlikely to make any policy changes at its July meeting. We doubt that President Draghi will offer more explicit... 19th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Ireland is faring better than GDP data suggest Ireland’s GDP contracted in Q1, but this tells us next to nothing about the underlying state of the economy. Other indicators are much more encouraging and, despite some big risks to the outlook, we... 19th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economic Outlook Outlook positive, but risks are rising Most European economies have experienced a slowdown since last year, but growth is still strong by historic standards and prospects are fairly bright. Admittedly, trade protection poses a serious... 19th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Wage differentials support CEE industrial border markets Growing occupier demand for industrial units close to the German and Austrian borders will offset the slower economic growth that we are expecting in the next few years in the CEE markets. This will... 18th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB hawks still in the minority In an otherwise quiet week, the main economic news was the publication of the minutes of June’s ECB meeting. They showed that members of the Governing Council “widely agreed” to update their forward... 13th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Industrial Production (May) May’s strong increase in euro-zone industrial production offered welcome reassurance that the slowdown in GDP growth in Q1 did not mark the start of a downward trend. 12th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update High income returns positive for Brussels offices A positive economic outlook for Belgium and a shortage of available Grade A stock bode well for office rents in Brussels. Foreign investors, in particular, are increasing exposure to the market as it... 11th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German ZEW (Jul.), French & Italian Ind. Prod. (May) The further decline in German ZEW investor sentiment seems to reflect concerns about the impact of possible protectionist measures. But May’s industrial production data for France and Italy support... 10th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly German industry rebounds, but are politics a threat? Immigration has remained very high up the political agenda this week, and while EU leaders reached a compromise on Monday, this is not a closed issue and tensions may well flare up again. Meanwhile... 6th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Q2 growth set to be healthy, but slower than last year Hard data relating to euro-zone activity in Q2 have been a little disappointing so far, denting hopes that GDP growth would rebound strongly after Q1’s 0.4% quarterly expansion. Industrial production... 5th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Healthy outlook for returns supports case for Denmark Record investment activity in Denmark underscores the positive outlook for returns in Copenhagen, especially in the industrial sector, which we expect to be the best-performing market in Western... 4th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Surveys still fairly upbeat, little progress on integration In our opinion, this week’s media coverage of the June EC and Ifo surveys was too downbeat. Both indicators are still consistent with annual GDP growth of over 2%. Other data told a familiar story of... 29th June 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update What can we learn from US property? As rising US Treasury yields have squeezed US property’s yield gap over the risk-free rate, investment volumes have dropped back and core office yields are rising. While Europe is lagging the US... 29th June 2018 · 1 min read