Retail stood out as the strongest performing segment in terms of property value growth in Q1 this year, according to CBRE's European Valuation Monitor.
The report found that retail values lead the way in the commercial property recovery with 0.8% growth in Q1 this year. Overall, European property values increased just 0.4% in the first three months of 2011 compared to 1.2% in Q4 2010.

The retail sector accounted for a 46% share of the EUR 26.7 bn total commercial real estate transacted in Q1 2011. The strongest retail capital growth was recorded in France (1.4%) but values improved in all markets

Riskier markets such as Spain and core CEE have already started to benefit retail capital values, as investors begun to shift along the risk spectrum. Only industrial values are lagging and remain unchanged from mid-2009.

The Nordic region continues to report the third highest level of investment activity behind the UK and Germany and has just overtaken the UK as the best annual and quarterly performer. France, Germany and CEE also recorded positive annual value change, and Southern Europe and Ireland was flat, supported mainly by Spain and Italy. However, driven by a very weak office sector, the Netherlands is the largest market to still report negative annual change (-7.3%). By contrast the Netherlands retail sector has been one of the strongest performers over the entire life of the index.