Investors remain confident in Dutch office market - DTZ

Local and foreign investors remain confident about the prospects for the Dutch real estate market even though the affects of the global credit crisis are far from over, according to a new market report published by property adviser DTZ Zadelhoff.

The report suggests that investors plan to add to their Dutch portfolios this year, but financiers are more cautious about their prognosis for the end-user market. Some EUR 8 bn was invested in commercial real estate in the Netherlands from January to end-September last year, DTZ said. It expects the investment volume for the full year to come to EUR 10 bn, a significant increase on the EUR 8.5 bn invested in the Dutch market the year before.

About 1.2 million m² of office space was taken up in the first half of 2007 and the property adviser expects the full-year figure to come to 2 million m². However, DTZ warned that there is a clear split developing in the Dutch office market as a portion of the supply is obsolete and does not meet current requirements. Owners of such properties will have to undertake renovation and redevelopment programmes to address this problem.

DTZ also said the industrial property market in the Netherlands performed strongly in 2007. Some 1.6 million m² of space was taken up in the first half of the year, a 50% increase on the same period in 2006. The take up for the full year 2007 will likely come to almost 3 million m2, the report said.