Germany remains tops, ahead of Netherlands and Denmark

A new research report launched during the recent Expo REAL in Munich by Dutch residential property adviser Capital Value forecasts that the most popular countries for residential investment over the coming years will be – in order – Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.

If up until just a few year ago cross-border institutional investment into the rented accommodation sector was primarily into Germany, this is set to spread to other countries, claim the Capital Value researchers.

The study is based on a survey of more than 200 international property investors, including investors from the US, Germany, the UK and Switzerland. The researchers claim that it is the first time such a large-scale survey of the European residential market has been carried out.

During the past two years there have been major cross-border transactions in Scandinavia, with Denmark being particularly popular. In 2012, international investors targeted about €350m into Denmark.

Interest is also growing in Dutch rented housing, the research found. Several billions are currently lining up to be invested into the Netherlands, the researchers say. House prices have fallen in the past few years and many investors now compare the Netherlands to Germany in the early 2000s. Due to the huge price rises in Germany during the past few years, investors believe that better returns can now be achieved in the Netherlands.

Alexander van der Laan, property advisor at Capital Value in London, said a large number of foreign investors are scrutinising the Dutch housing market and that there was particular interest in larger transaction volumes of €50m and upwards. 'We are seeing clear differences between Anglo-Saxon parties and investors from Germany. German investors tend to take a long-term view and go for a stable return, whereas Anglo-Saxon investors are particularly interested in large volumes with a high return.’

British asset and property management company Cording Real Estate Group has merged its German operations with the local property manager Marstall-Verwaltungsges mbH to create a new combined property management business across Germany. The move follows the acquisition by Cording of Marstall unit MGI GmbH in Frankfurt last year.

The merged company will trade as Cording Management GmbH with immediate effect and means that the Cording Real Estate Group now has 83 staff managing 482 buildings with a value of around €4bn, including investment management mandates of around €1.18bn.

Frank Ritscheck from Marstall and Arindam Mitra from Cording Real Estate Group will jointly manage the combined team that consists of 40 staff based in Berlin, Haldensleben, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg.

Cording Management GmbH say they are now delivering property, technical and accounts management for a wide spectrum of clients including Commerz Real, ZIAG Immobilien AG, REO and Buccleuch. The properties are spread across all commercial sectors and include buildings such as the Japan Tower and Eurotheum in Frankfurt and Marstall Centre in Ludwigsburg. Peter Dove, Cording Group’s CEO commented “Marstall brings into the Cording Real Estate Group a top class property management team with a highly successful, 33 year proven track record. The merger significantly enhances our property management capability both in Germany and internationally."