Bankers remain insecure over euro market

A hoped-for turnaround in European real estate is unlikely to materialise this year, with the markets' optimism hammered by the weak economic recovery and persistently poor debt conditions, a survey said on Friday.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Urban Land Institute (ULI), which interviewed 600 industry players including investors, developers and bankers, said respondents' hopes of a quick rebound in last year's survey has waned this year.

"In January 2010, the sunny uplands did not seem too far away, but they do now. Optimism dissipated as every month came and went. It was battered by events," ULI and PWC quoted one interviewee as saying.

The property industry also faces the threat of further shocks from stressed countries such as Italy, Portugal, and Spain, the report said. The sharpest wake-up call in 2011 will be felt in the secondary, or "non-prime", property market, where many believe the real hangover from the bursting of the property bubble in 2008 has not yet set in, it added.

Source: Reuters