At the end of 2013, the German real estate market not only fulfilled bur outperformed
its market expectations. The real estate transaction market for commercial real
estate in the German big seven increased by 7.8 percent from € 15.2 bn
in 2012 to € 16.3 bn in 2013.
In 2014, Germany will remain one of the most attractive real estate investment markets
in Europe, and throughout the world. The German market offers investment opportunities
for all categories of investors.
The total number of completions across all Big 7 markets increased by 17 %
compared to the first half of 2013. More than 420,000 sqm of new space were
completed in the first six month of 2014. More than a third of this volume (156,000 sqm)
related to Frankfurt, equating to a 28 % increase in new space in the gbanking
metropolis. The strongest increase - although from a very low starting volume - was
registred for Düsseldorf. Here, completions increased almost fivefold to 71,000 sqm.
In the coming two quarters further completions of around 743,000 sqm are expected
in the Big 7, taking the annual completions volume t 1.17 million sqm.
This would then be 31 % above the 2013 volume. Despite this rising volume of
newly built space, we see only limited impact on vacancies. Around 113,000 sqm
of the completed space in the first half of the year was still available on the market,
corresponding to a share of 27 %. The other spaces were already let or assigned
to owner-occupiers at the time of completion. Furthermore, just over 36 % of the
new space that is still scheduled for completion this year is still available to
potential users. On average that is 40,000 sqm per city.
A higher building activity has become apparent since 2010 in Germany. Completion
figures increased further by 15 % to 183,110 in 2011. The number of building
permits, the increase was at a lower rate compared to the previous year (+5 %).
The high number of permits should lead to more completions in the current positive
market environment. One indication of the increased attractiveness off housing in
densely built-up urban areas is the above-average completion figures of units in
multi-family houses.
For 2012 and 2013, the number of building completions should significantly advance
further to more than 200,000.
In the first six month of 2013, apartments with a value of € 7.05 bn were
sold in Germany. This is almost the same level as that achieved during the same period
last year. A total of approx. 100,000 apartments changed the owner, which is approx.
30,000 units fewer than in the first half of 2012. The average porttfolio size in
the first six months of 2013 was approx. 510 apartments, around 20 % less than
one year ago.