End of year German property sentiment stabilises – Deutsche Hypo

The latest reading of the monthly Deutsche Hypo Property Climate Index shows sentiment in the German real estate market stabilising after a notable drop in August, when a number of political factors seem to have combined to scare investors.

The property climate sentiment reading, gleaned from a survey of industry experts, gained 0.6% in November and the investment climate even rose 2.7% on October. Bank board member Andreas Pohl expects another rise in the full-year transaction volume in Germany this year. “Should the forecast €35bn, last year’s figure, be beaten again, pre-crisis levels are not too far off any more. But they come with more secure framework conditions than in 2008,” he said.

The positive indicators come despite the mixed economic prognoses towards the end of the year, said Pohl. The latest forecasts for 2015 have been positive however, predicting rising export figures and consumer confidence, which are set to provide a fillip to GDP growth. While the investment climate indicator rose, that for returns fell by 1.7%. On the asset sub-indices, the Office Climate gained 2.4%, returning to growth after three months of losses, and Industrial 0.5%, continuing its positive development over recent months. Both the Retail and Residential climate fell by 0.9%. Deutsche Hypo is part of the Hanover-based landesbank NordLB.