Russia's commercial real estate investment up 70%

Investment in commercial real estate in Russia skyrocketed to about $9.5 billion in 2011, up over 70 percent on the previous year, Russia's S.A. Ricci real estate consulting company said on Tuesday. "An important trend of 2011 is an over 70 percent growth of investment deals on the commercial real estate market," S.A.Ricci said in its report. The company also said the value of deals made in the Russian regions grew 550 percent to $2.4 billion last year, while the share of foreign investment jumped 400 percent to $3.2 billion. The retail real estate segment was responsible for the largest growth. Investment in stores rose from four percent to 34 percent of commercial real estate, reaching nearly $3 billion. Investment in office space, worth $4.2 billion, accounted for just to 45 percent of the market, down from 71 percent in 2010. PricewaterhouseCoopers rated Moscow at ninth place in a rating of the most attractive cities in Europe to invest in commercial real estate, Kommersant business daily said on Tuesday.