The income generated by commercial property in Italy fell in 2011, compared to the previous year.
In its Italy Annual Property Index, IPD revealed returns for investors on such real estate assets came in at 4.3 per cent last year, down from the 5.1 per cent recorded in 2010.
The organisation noted income return - which stood at 5.8 per cent - was the main driver behind the industry, as capital values dropped by 1.5 per cent in the same period.
Retail was the strongest commercial property sector in the country, posting overall gains of 5.5 per cent, followed by industrial assets and offices.
Neil Turner, head of fund management at Schroders, told Financial News last month that retail assets in the north of the nation should be on investors' radar this year.
However, Luigi Pischedda, country manager Italy at IPD, urged caution, noting that despite the performance of Italian commercial real estate being "encouraging", the figures need to be "read carefully in the context of recent years".
He highlighted the "further and faster capital declines" experienced in 2011 as an example of this, adding conditions in the Italian property market weakened towards the end of the year.
