Finnish property investor Sirius has announced the first acquisition on behalf of a new residential investment vehicle targeting up to €500 mln in Finnish living residential assets.
Speaking to PropertyEU in an interview, Sirius’ CEO Patrick Gylling says housing assets in Finland and in particular in Helsinki make a compelling investment opportunity at the moment.
‘Construction costs have risen sharply in the past three years. Helsinki is a growing city but the supply of new apartments has fallen by roughly 80% last year and is expected to plunge further this year. This means that there will be undersupply in the near future and looking at 2025 and 2026 this is expected to drive up rents,’ Gylling explained.
The new strategy will focus on the acquisition of newly-developed, existing assets, completed over the past couple of years. Gylling: ‘We are looking at Tampere and Turku but we have a very strong focus on Helsinki where over 70% of our portfolio will be located.’
Sirius already has experience with residential assets. The company bought roughly 2,200 apartments for its Fund IV, which is currently fully invested after raising €200 mln in 2021. The strategy focused on build-to-rent residential assets in Finland, predominantly in the Helsinki region.
The investors in the Fund are all international institutional investors, such as multi-managers, pension companies and family offices, with more than three quarters of the capital coming from the US and the rest from Europe.
‘We think this is a very interesting opportunity,’ Gylling commented. ‘We are buying assets at good value for money on the eve of what we anticipate to be very strong rental growth momentum in the residential sector.’
Sirius’ first acquisition for the new vehicle consists of a portfolio of four residential buildings comprising 251 apartments. Previously, these assets belonged to Oivat Kaupunkikodit Ky, a residential fund of Finnish asset manager eQ.
Constructed between 2021 and 2023, all the buildings are new and high-quality. They are also compliant with EU environmental standards and equipped with solar panels.
The 10,000m2 portfolio spans Finland, with two properties in the Helsinki area, and one each in Tampere and Turku. The total value of the acquisition is around €45mln.
