With the nights drawing shorter and Paris beginning to light up for Christmas, we felt the time was right to reflect on 2025 while also casting our minds forward. To do that, we gathered with around 60 leading real estate investors and lawyers from across France, Germany, Ireland, Poland Spain and the UK joined us to share their thoughts on what asset classes and countries they will be focusing on in the coming year.
And let’s begin on a positive note. Perhaps it was the festive cheer in the air, but there was an unmistakable sense of optimism about what 2026 holds for the European Real Estate market. When polled, more than three-quarters of those in the room (77%) said they were either “cautiously” or “very” optimistic about the market next year.
This begs the question: where is this optimism being placed?
When asked about which asset classes most interested those in the room, Logistics and/or data centres (33%), Residential (25%) and Offices (21%) are the most in-demand. Logistics and Data Centres leading the way speaks volumes about investor confidence in the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI), but with residential and offices following closely there’s still plenty of appetite for traditional classes. Let’s look more closely at those three leading the way.
Logistics and Data Centres: Poland and Germany in focus
Poland is one of the largest European logistics markets, where activity is now overtaking retail and office deals. The Polish economy has led the way in Europe in recent years and continues to expand rapidly, attracting tenants in logistics as well as manufacturing. The country is comparable to Germany in terms of regional economic focus for certain sectors, e.g. logistics are concentrated near the German border.
Sale and leaseback transactions are at a peak in Poland, mostly with manufacturing tenants, who are unlikely to relocate from the asset in the short term. There is a range of price points available, with portfolios in the €170 million region and smaller deals focussed on production facilities being seen at €8 million. Most industrial stock is modern too – built within the last 5-6 years – and the sector is expected to attract a full variety of investors in the next few years.
Germany is also seeing a lot of sale and leaseback activity in industrials.
However, the hottest topic in Germany is Data Centres. A new digital infrastructure ministry, with a minister who worked previously for the likes of Deutsche Telekom, shows the Germans are taking things seriously. Improvements to the planning process are expected as the country seeks to remain a big hub for data centres.
Residential: opportunities abound in Europe’s purpose-built student housing (PBSA)
Universities in both Spain and Poland are dispersed in different cities around the country, leading to a lot of demand - and appetite for - investment in PBSA. The shortage in PBSA accommodation in Poland means that universities are now doing direct deals with private companies to develop stock.
Spain is also seeing flexible living assets attracting investors. While traditional build to rent (BTR) is subject to legislation, flexible living (known also as co-living) is not and yields are high. Flexible living and co-living are modest offerings in Poland but growing.
BlackRock’s Floriane Menguy noted that their investment strategy looks at housing needs (PBSA, flexible living) but they are still cautious about regulation. Dublin-based Mark Walsh of Addleshaw Goddard suggested that while French funds have typically not been interested in Ireland’s residential market, anticipated reforms to the rent cap system mean this could change going forward.
Offices: thinking outside the box - UK regions, French reconversions
The regional office market in the UK has become particularly attractive, particularly with French SCPI funds who are finding good availability of assets, with the right combination of yield, tenant covenant, lease length and price points.
Tenants that are present in London also tend to be in regional markets across the UK, bringing the same covenant strength but with a more attractive yield. Other economic factors play into it too; low growth, construction costs issues and the lingering effects of Brexit means that tenants are preferring to renew rather than relocate.
Since June 2025, new French legislation has simplified office refurbishment and conversion. As a result, obsolete suburban office stock is now being injected with fresh capital and several office-to-hotel conversions are already being seen.
Where are the big opportunities for hospitality in Europe?
But attendees were given more than just those three asset classes to choose from. Though Retail (15%) and Hospitality (5%) were not the most popular options, they continue to be and will remain crucial parts of the Real Estate ecosystem.
When asked where investors were sensing the most attractive opportunities for investment in these two areas, those present voted overwhelmingly in favour of France (albeit the location will have had an effect on that result!).
Given the evening was hosted in Paris, France (47%) polled significantly higher than second-placed Spain (30%). Both countries were clearly ahead of the UK & Ireland (12%) and Poland 9%. Germany placed fifth, receiving just 2% of the room’s vote.
An estimated 500 million tourists visit Europe annually, accounting for roughly half of all tourists globally. That is set to increase in the coming years with a further 50 million tourists to absorb in the coming years – however, our guests noted that the majority of that growth will be seen in the traditional southern European tourist hot spots. With these staggering figures in mind, Petra AM’s Gaël Le Lay sees plenty of positives in the for European hospitality.
In European tourism, there is a clear divide between Southern Europe and the rest of the Continent. Italy, Spain and Greece are the key destinations to think about. However, these markets are hugely fragmented – dominated by domestic players and family-operated hotels. Because of this, there is an absence of the biggest players. Italy, for example, is the largest country in Europe in terms of room count but only 8% of its hotels have over 30 rooms.
José Antonio Calleja of Addleshaw Goddard’s Madrid office was quick to confirm that the Spanish capital is booming for hotels, chains and luxury hotels. The market is similarly very fragmented in families in Spain. Hotels which were launched in 1970s/80s now find themselves in the hands of a new generation in need of capex investment and a more professionalised market.
The market is expected to present attractive opportunities for both local and international investors seeking long-term value and strategic expansion. Notably, there is a growing appetite among French investors for cross-border and pan-European investment strategies, reflecting increased confidence in the region’s economic stability and regulatory environment. In addition to traditional asset classes, alternative sectors—such as logistics, data centres, healthcare, and student accommodation—are likely to continue attracting significant interest from investors looking to diversify their portfolios. Overall, the combination of market resilience, evolving investor preferences, and the emergence of new asset classes positions the European real estate sector as a promising landscape for growth and innovation in 2026.
