MILAN, Aug 24 (Reuters) - It's hard to be bullish about real estate in an environment of sharply higher interest rates. Two years of steep falls have made European property a short-seller favourite as sector valuations and investor positioning plunged to levels last seen during the 2008 global financial crisis. A gauge of European real estate shares (.SX86P) has halved in value to about $131 billion since 2021, but the mood shifted in July as earnings expectations improved. "Things aren't great for real estate companies and that's why they are trading at a huge discount. Meanwhile, BlackRock's iShares European Property ETF (IPRP.L) has seen a 10% surge in inflows from late February, according to data on its website.

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Persons: Gerry Fowler, Zsolt Kohalmi, BlackRock's, Natixis, Banks, Charles de Boissezon, Kohalmi, UBS's Fowler, Danilo Masoni, Sinead Cruise, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: MILAN, European Equity, UBS, European Central Bank, Pictet, Advisors, P Global Market Intelligence, Property, Bank of, Societe Generale, Equity, Thomson Locations: Europe, London, U.S