German resi deal value jumps 39% in 2013

The value of residential portfolio deals in Germany jumped 39% to €14.7 bn in 2013, the best figure since before the 2008 financial crisis, according to research from real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield.

C&W looked at deals including more than 250 residential units. There were 84 of these in 2013, a rise of 12% on the 75 in 2012. But the number of individual units traded within these deals rose by 23%, from 213,000 to 262,000, and rising prices pushed the total value up by more than €4 bn.

Boris Schneider, associate in the corporate finance department at C&W Germany, does not expect similar increases this year. 'Although the results for 2012 were good, they were exceeded significantly in 2013, which nobody could have expected at the beginning of the year. Since we do not expect the same level and volume of large-scale transactions in 2014, we forecast a transaction volume of around €10 bn for 2014 as a whole,' he said. This would roughly match the €10.6 bn of residential portfolio deals signed in 2012.

The average transaction in 2013 included 3,100 units, some 200 more than in 2012. The above-average quality of stock in some larger deals helped create an average price of €900 per square metre.

Larger deals in 2013 included the takeover of GSW by Deutsche Wohnen for €3.3 bn, the sale of GBW to a Patrizia-headed consortium for €2.4 bn, and the stock market launch of LEG Immobilien at around €2.3 bn.