Laura Henkel
,
Editor of “Immobilienwirtschaft”
and responsible online editor of
3
GERMANY
ISSUE
I
EDITORIAL
Dear Readers,
Although the first half of 2016 got off to a slow start, the overall year in retrospect
was another successful one for the German real estate industry. As opposed to the
previous year, hardly any records were broken, but with EUR 66.2 billion investment
turnover remained on a relatively high level (2015: EUR 76 billion).
And the prospects for this year remain bright: the strong interest of foreign buyers
in commercial and residential properties continues, as agreed by all of the market
participants we surveyed. This is due to the fact that the German economy is in robust
shape (pages 14-16) and the political situation, in spite of the upcoming Bundestag
election, will remain stable and – in all likelihood – will not hold any great surprises
as elsewhere.
The share of foreign buyers in 2017 in Germany could even slightly exceed last year’s
level, according to estimates by CBRE or Savills. However, the brokerage houses are
expecting changes in the ranking: the U.S. could drop, Asia and China could go up.
If you take a look at the asset classes, what is striking is that they prefer primarily
office and logistics properties as well as shopping centers (pages 18-22).
But MIPIM is not just about international real estate investments, it also focuses on
topics of the future. In addition to Big Data, the new Innovation Forum is growing
and is returning to a more prominent spot in the MIPIM Pavilion on the harbor.
Also start-ups from Germany will play a role this year (pages 42-45). And last but not
least, the MIPIM Awards: the awards ceremony is considered one of the highlights
of the trade fair. From the 214 projects submitted this year, the jury has selected four
finalists in each of the eleven categories – including two German real estate projects
(pages 28-29).
The mood in Cannes should therefore not be too clouded in spite of the global
geopolitical instability. Moreover, the conditions for the investment market are good
not only in Germany, but in all of Europe. According to the RICS Global Commercial
Property Monitor, conditions have even improved.
The only question is how long this will continue. You don’t have to agree with
everything Arthur Schopenhauer wrote, but we should keep one sentence in mind
– with all of these good signs: “Wise is he who is not deceived by the appearance of
stability […].”
We wish you interesting and varied reading!
Yours,
A Stable
Foundation?
