Dutch office investment volumes hit EUR 1.1 bn in the first half of 2012. Appetite from German funds for prime Dutch office properties remained high, accounting for 47% of office investments (EUR 516 mln) in the first half of 2012, according to Savills latest research report on the Netherlands commercial real estate markets.

Dutch office investment volumes hit EUR 1.1 bn in the first half of 2012. Appetite from German funds for prime Dutch office properties remained high, accounting for 47% of office investments (EUR 516 mln) in the first half of 2012, according to Savills latest research report on the Netherlands commercial real estate markets.

The international real estate advisor records a total office investment volume of EUR 1.1 bn in H1 2012, a rise of 36% compared with H1 2011. The firm notes that this increase is largely due to Chalet Group, led by Dutch entrepreneur Marcel Boekhoorn, buying the Philips High Tech Campus in Eindhoven for EUR 425 mln.

The report states that overall investment volume across office, industrial and retail sectors decreased by 10.1% year-on-year in H1 2012 to EUR 1.6 bn, from EUR 1.8 bn in H1 2011. Savills expects the total investment volume in the Netherlands to reach EUR 3.2 bn by year-end, slightly below the 2011 total of EUR 3.4 bn.

Jeroen Jansen, head of research at Savills in the Netherlands, said: 'Whilst the overall investment volume in the Netherlands has decreased in the first half of 2012, investor interest in prime commercial property remains high. Forced sales will continue to come to the market in the second half of the year and into 2013, creating further opportunities for value-added investors and private equity funds.'

In terms of yields, Savills finds that financing constraints and limited liquidity in the market has forced prime office yields up by 20-50 bps in the last six months to between 5.6% and 5.9% net yield in the four largest agglomerations. Prime industrial yields have also risen on average 25 bps in the major markets, to for instance 7.25% in the Amsterdam/Schiphol area.

Savills notes that the increase in both these sectors makes them more attractive to opportunistic investors and highlights the purchase of the distressed Uni-Invest and Orange office and industrial portfolios by private equity funds in Q2 2012 as evidence of this. Prime high street retail yields, on the other hand, have decreased by 25 bps to 4% in the city centre of Amsterdam in the same time period, showing continued interest for this type of product.