Ernst & Young Report Finds Russia Better For Real Estate Investment Than Europe

Despite unexpected meteorites and a notoriously cold winter, investors are saying Russia is a better real estate investment than Europe, according to Forbes.com.

Ernst & Young, one of the valued accounting firms in the world, published a report on key findings for the year that found 87 percent of participants found Russia a more attractive investment location for real estate compared to Europe at 83 percent.

According to the 45-page report, titled, "Real Estate: Asset Investment Trend Indicator," 80 percent of the most active sellers are banks, followed by 77 percent who are the public sectors. Real estate operating companies, REOCs, or real estate investment trusts, REITs also will be among the active.

The strongest buyers consuming the affordable Russian real estate properties are REOCs or REITs at 90 percent and private; family offices at 87 percent followed by sovereign wealth funds.

Moscow will be the most desired commercial or office properties for investors, but trendier cities in the country with a population of more than a million would be the most sought after for residential and retail purposes. 

Investors are expecting prices for office buildings to increase depending on location, whereas, retail buildings are expected to increase in high-demand areas. Residential, hospitality and industrial properties can expect to remain at a steady price for interested buyers.

The survey was created by the Economist Intelligence Unit and conducted between November and December 2012 with 30 participating investors. It covered 15 European countries and feedback was collected from more than 500 companies like banks and insurance firms actively conducting real estate business in these countries. According to Forbes, the companies that took part in the study, expect to increase their real estate portfolio by 84 percent this year.

But it's not all loss for Europe. The report also indicated that 66 percent of the investors anticipated more European real estate investments in 2013 because of the Eurozone crisis.