“France in particular, with the second highest volume in Europe, is likely to start NPL sales in the coming months,” Portes says. “It’s a market to watch.”

New, smaller specialised and NPL-focused funds are entering the market and actively looking for assets that can become a rental platform in the future, Portes says. More joint ventures between banks and loan servicers could be crucial in the coming years as the likes of Greece and Cyprus step up their drive to offload NPLs. Greece's National Bank recently offloaded €900 million to Symbol Investment NPLCO DAC.

“Europe has seen the NPL market move from the sale of wholesale portfolios through to smaller portfolio buyers looking to put workout strategies in place - and even trade out to smaller entities,” Kavanau says.

The story is far from over – and could realistically hang over into the next real estate cycle.

“We head into the next decade with European banks still looking to offload NPLs,” concludes Kavanau. “It almost feels like you never do get to the end, as the next cycle begins.”