Holding Onto Assets Is Now an Opportunity Cost
In a recent interview with IPE Real Assets, Nick Pink argues that investors who keep waiting for better conditions risk missing strong current opportunities in European real estate, where high quality assets are still achieving solid pricing and the cost of delaying could lead to lost value and diminished returns.
The phrase ‘survive ‘till 25’ may have turned out to be overly optimistic when coined at the end of 2023 as Europe (and indeed the world) was struck with economic volatility and rocketing interest rates. But while 2025 may not have been as positive as some had hoped, it was the moment when we clearly entered a new real estate cycle – which in turn, on paper at least, made it one of the best buying opportunities for some time.
While transaction volumes remain subdued, the scarcity of high-quality assets in prime locations has meant that the few opportunities that have appeared have felt like hidden gems. Yet many institutional investors have stayed on the sidelines, their capital locked away as they wait for further interest rate cuts or incremental gains in capital values to make selling feel that little bit more attractive.
But the reality is that holding assets in this environment comes with a significant opportunity cost – one that gambles on the idea of a much-improved future environment and ignores the facts on the ground in Europe’s real estate markets today.
