Top 10: The most-read stories from a turbulent year

During 2022, Europe’s real estate lending market was battered by macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds. Inflation was a concern going into the year, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February fuelled it further, prompting central bankers to raise interest rates.

The rising cost of debt, and uncertainty around its impact on property values, dominated market discourse for much of the year. It also informed much of Real Estate Capital Europe’s coverage during 2022.

As well as analysis of the major challenges facing the industry, insight into the strategies of new entrants to the sector proved popular. In addition, our ever-popular rankings and lists continued to attract clicks as readers sought data.

Here are the 10 most-read articles of the year on recapitalnews.com:

1. DOWNLOAD: The latest CRE lending data: The need for data is greater than ever in times of uncertainty. So, it is little surprise to see 2022’s most read story was that which contains our European loans database – this we update and republish each Monday. The database contains details on 1,658 transactions, dating back to 2016.
2. KKR launches European real estate debt business: For those with appropriately priced capital, this year’s market dislocation represented a huge opportunity. Big-name new entrants to the European real estate lending market included US manager KKR, which outlined its strategy in this November story.
3. Real Estate Capital Europe’s Debt Fund 30: Data on the market’s largest real estate debt fundraisers remained popular this year, with our annual debt fund ranking attracting lots of clicks since it was published in June. French insurer AXA IM Alts continued to top the ranking.
4. REC Europe Awards 2021: The winners revealed: Every March, the big reveal of the winners of the previous year’s awards attracts a lot of attention. It was the same this March, with big winners including Citi, Allianz Real Estate and Cheyne Capital. Meanwhile, you can vote in the 2022 awards here.
5. Greenwashing: Time to paint a clearer picture: Despite the immediate economic threats to the industry, ESG risk remained top-of-mind for many. In September, our deep-dive article examined how real estate lenders can spot greenwashing in the industry – and how they can avoid being accused of it themselves.
6. We need to talk about hedging: In another key article from September, we delved into the world of hedging and examined how this year’s abrupt change in monetary policy has forced real estate borrowers to spend more time considering the best way to mitigate interest rate risk.
7. Ares assembles team to provide real estate loans in Europe: Before the year’s economic turmoil began, Europe’s real estate lending market was already viewed as a target by large-scale managers, including US firm Ares Management. In January, we reported on its entry into the sector.
8. Europe’s Top 50 Lenders 2022: The ninth edition of our popular list of banks and alternative lenders that we see as having the greatest impact on Europe’s real estate lending market had proved to be one of the most popular items of 2022 by the end of the year, despite only being published at the start of December.
9. How economic turbulence threatens Europe’s real estate debt market: In June, as inflation and rising rates became the dominant topics of conversation across the industry, we published our in-depth analysis of the situation following conversations with lenders, borrowers and advisers. It highlighted an industry entering a new era of uncertainty.
10. Inside real estate’s refinancing conundrum: To round off the year, the cover story of our winter print edition, published online in December, examined the major challenge facing Europe’s real estate lending industry going into 2023 – how the huge volumes of outstanding debt will be refinanced at a time when lenders are increasingly cautious and selective. As the final deep-dive of the year, it provided an insight into how market participants are facing an uncertain future.