The French property investment market showed a 5 per cent return in the calendar year 1998, according to the first study there carried out by Investment Property Databank. The return continues the upward trend of the last three years and is the first significant positive return since the early 1990s. Investment return arises entirely from the income return, standing at 6.1 per cent. Capital values continued to fall in 1998 (1.1 per cent), although at a slower rate than in previous years.