Germany bank RE lending up more than 5% in 2019

The major real estate banks in Germany wrote an average of 5% more new real estate financing business 2019, bringing their total volume up to €45.1 billion, according to JLL in a recent report.

According to the report, the front-runner was DZ Hyp with an 11% increase to €9.3 billion. Business also rose by 11% in each case to €5.2 billion for BayernLB and €5.1 billion for Berlin Hyp. At a lower volume level, Münchener Hyp grew by 46% to €1.9 billion and Berliner Sparkasse by 40% to €3.43 billion. However, some financing banks also reduced their business. LBBW, for example, recorded a 17% reduction in volume, to only €5 billion. At Helaba, the volume fell by 6% to €4.6 billion.

Anke Herz, Team Leader Debt Advisory at JLL, considers the growth of bank lending compared to the German real estate investment market last year of more than €91 billion, an increase of 16%, to be "quite low". It will be interesting to see whether debt financing in the usual volume will take place this year, says Helge Scheunemann, head of JLL Research. COVID-19 will almost certainly have put paid to those expectations.