German investors are in talks to acquire up to EUR 1 bn of French property assets, according to Stephan Von Barczy, head of Capital Markets France at Jones Lang LaSalle.

'German investors are negotiating around EUR 1 bn of deals at the moment,' Von Barczy told PropertyEU. 'The French market has become increasingly active in the past months, with deals in the third quarter accounting for even more than the first and the second quarters altogether,' he said.

A number of private investors and insurance companies such as Allianz Real Estate are coming back to the French real estate market. German open- ended funds are also in talks to buy a number of large-ticket properties in the office property sector which has one of the lowest vacancy rates in Europe.

Rents are falling in the country as in most European markets, Von Barczy noted, but vacancies for office buildings are still very low at 6.5-7%. Von Barczy expects the investment market to pick up in the rest of 2009 and 2010 following a very slow start to the year. 'I can't see the market getting any worse than this,' he said.

Commercial property investment in France is forecast to total EUR 6 bn this year, marking a drop of around 50% compared to 2008's levels of EUR 12.5 bn.