A European gamble

Over the past decade, property across Europe has not received the same attention as other asset classes such as equities and bonds. However, in the 10 years to 2003 property has produced a higher return than equities and bonds in most European countries. Scottish Widows Investment Partnership expects an average return of around 8.7% pa from European real estate over the next four years compared to 8.5% pa from European equities. Of course attitudes towards real estate do differ between countries. In some countries investors feel very comfortable in owning real estate. German investors, fo...