LONDON LOSES PROPERTY INVESTMENT CROWN

LONDON LOSES PROPERTY INVESTMENT CROWN

By Daniel Thomas 2009-09-28

London has been knocked from the top of a list of best European cities for commercial property occupiers and investors for the first time since 2005, according to a leading global property fund manager.

Munich has been identified as the European city most attractive for investment on a medium-term outlook, followed by Paris, according to LaSalle Investment Management's eleventh European Regional Economic Growth Index.

London's slippage in the rankings reflects the city's exposure to the financial downturn compared with other rival business hubs.

Dublin fell from fifth place to 73rd place.

The research appears to conflict with the attitude among many investors, given the large amount of capital looking to invest in London property from a variety of sources such as sovereign wealth funds, private investors, property companies and domestic pension funds.

LaSalle is one of the largest property investors in the world with about $37.5bn of funds under management. Robin Goodchild, LaSalle's head of European research and strategy, stressed that London was still an attractive investment location, but that real estate investment could be stronger in the other top cities over the medium term.

The study is based on a range of indicators, ranging from relative wealth, growth levels and business across 98 European cities.

LaSalle found that Munich should withstand the current economic turmoil better than any other European location, owing to its wealth and a highly diversified local business structure, consisting of global players and domestic industries. Paris has benefited from its greater exposure to different sources of employment outside financial services.

Charles Maudsley, LaSalle Investment Management's co-head of Europe, said: “Notwithstanding its decline in the rankings, London remains a very attractive place for property investment because yields have expanded well beyond fair value even allowing for the weak demand outlook.”

一家著名国际地产基金管理公司编制的榜单显示，伦敦已跌下“欧洲商业地产居住与投资最佳城市”的榜首，这是2005年以来首次。

拉塞尔投资管理公司(LaSalle Investment Management)第11期欧洲地区经济增长指数显示，中期内最具投资吸引力的欧洲城市是慕尼黑，其次是巴黎。

伦敦排名下滑，反映出这座城市受金融危机的影响大于其他商业中心。

都柏林的排名从第5位降至第73位。

上述研究结果似与许多投资者的态度相冲突。目前有大量资金有意投资伦敦地产，而且来源多种多样，有主权财富基金、私人投资者、地产公司，也有英国国内的养老基金。

拉塞尔是全球最大的地产投资公司之一，管理着约375亿美元资金。拉塞尔欧洲研究与策略部门主管罗宾•古德柴尔德(Robin Goodchild)强调，伦敦仍是一个有吸引力的投资地点，但在中期内，其他顶级城市的房地产投资可能会更为兴旺。

该项研究涵盖了98个欧洲城市，采用了从相对财富、增长水平到商业等一系列指标。

拉塞尔发现，由于自身的财富和高度多元化的本地商业结构（既有跨国企业，也有本土产业），慕尼黑抵抗本轮经济危机的能力应会好于其他所有欧洲城市。巴黎则受益于金融服务业之外的丰富就业来源。

拉塞尔欧洲联席总裁查尔斯•莫兹利(Charles Maudsley)表示：“尽管排名下滑，但伦敦仍不失为一个极富吸引力的地产投资目的地，因为即使虑及疲软的需求前景，投资回报也已远远超出公允价值。”

译者/岱嵩