The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) said on Friday the commercial property showed signs of overvaluation in most European Union (EU) countries as yield-starved investors pile into bricks and mortar.
“Most of the countries for which commercial real estate (CRE) price data are available have registered CRE price increases and signs of overvaluation, while bank credit for CRE has been muted,” the ESRB, headed by ECB President Mario Draghi, warned in its annual report.
It also added the price rise had been fueled by a search for yield, driven down in some cases to below zero by years of ultra-low interest rates and massive bond purchases by the ECB.
“High investor demand and the search for higher yields, which have been a major source of the CRE price increase, particularly in prime markets, have potentially made investors vulnerable to a repricing of risk premia,” the ERSB said, without citing any specific figures to back its argument.