There were €5.3 bn of resi portfolio deals in Germany last quarter, some 152% more than in the same quarter last year, according to real estate consultancy NAI apollo group.

There were €5.3 bn of resi portfolio deals in Germany last quarter, some 152% more than in the same quarter last year, according to real estate consultancy NAI apollo group.

The €5.3 bn figure is higher than the totals for the whole of the years 2008 (€5.1 bn), 2009 (€3.1 bn) and 2010 (€3.1 bn).

‘Three large transactions that each amounted to more than €500 mln contributed to this excellent quarterly result and accounted for 61.7 % of the transaction volume’, said Konrad Kanzler, head of market research at NAI apollo group.

Deutsche Annington conducted the two biggest deals, buying the 30,000-unit Vitus-Portfolio for €1.4 bln and the 11,500-unit DeWAG-Portfolio for €970 mln.

The state of North Rhine Westphalia claimed almost one in four deals for the quarter. It contains Cologne, Stuttgart and Essen, three of Germany’s 10 largest cities.

Assets in economically strong cities continued to be the most sought-after, and domestic buyers accounted for 77% of the volume. Most purchases were made by listed firms and real estate companies, which accounted for 85.4% of the total spend.

NAI included residential deals of more than 30 units in its figures, but also predicted that, ‘a repeat of last year’s result (around €15 bn) is unlikely’.