Real estate experts and consultancy agencies are unanimous — despite the negative blow of the credit crunch, Russian commercial real estate has reaped excellent results over the last couple of years and, driven by confidence in the market and expanding investment possibilities, is expected to continue to grow.
Direct investment into Russian commercial real estate assets to the end of September 2008 reached $5.9 billion, increasing by 184 percent year-on-year, according to the latest survey by real estate service and management firm Jones Lang LaSalle. Meanwhile, the European market for the same period has seen a 10-15 percent fall, or $105 billion in direct investments in the first half of 2008, as against $171 billion a year earlier.
