Report: 3Q retail real estate transactions to rise

The first half of the year saw just $20.2 billion in retail property transactions worldwide, down 61% from a year ago, according to Real Capital Analytics. The decline is in line with other property types, but retail is the only sector to see second-quarter deal volume fall from the first quarter. Real Capital Analytics predicts a modest resurgence of retail transaction activity for the third quarter, based on deals already closed or pending in the quarter. The U.K. saw the most retail real estate transactions during the first half-some $5.35 billion worth, down 34% from a year before. Spain was second, with $2.69 billion, up 88% year on year, thanks largely to the $311 million sale of the Centro Comercial Plenilunio, in Madrid, and the $2 billion sale of a 9 million s/f portfolio of BBVA bank branches to Deutsche Bank, Real Capital Analytics says. Meanwhile, the U.S. lost shine in the eyes of investors, falling to third place from the year-ago first slot, with $2.69 billion in first-half retail property deals, down 74% from 12 months before. France, on the other hand, skyrocketed from 30th place to seventh. French retail transactions totaled $83 million during the half, up nearly 300 percent year on year. The year's largest single-property retail transaction was the $1.7 billion purchase of a 1.5 million-square-foot portion of the Meadowhall Centre mall, Sheffield, England, from British Land by the Abu Dhabi government.