German investors were the biggest foreign players in the UK in the first five months of 2008, accounting for EUR 878mln or 19% of the EUR 4.5bn total transaction volume in the country, according to new research by property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle. Among the biggest investors were Pramerica, Deka, HansaInvest, Real I.S. and the open-ended funds of Credit Suisse. Next in line were the Kuwaitis followed by the Irish, the researchers found.
German investors were the biggest foreign players in the UK in the first five months of 2008, accounting for EUR 878mln or 19% of the EUR 4.5bn total transaction volume in the country, according to new research by property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle. Among the biggest investors were Pramerica, Deka, HansaInvest, Real I.S. and the open-ended funds of Credit Suisse. Next in line were the Kuwaitis followed by the Irish, the researchers found.
German investors bought EUR 878mln of mainly office properties over the five-month period, compared with EUR 647mln for the whole of 2007. Rising net initial yields are the main reason for the German re-entry into the UK market. Prime yields have risen to around 5.75% for properties in London's City from around 4.25% at the beginning of 2007. 'There are even examples of yields of 6% being achieved again,' said Sebastian Woitas, head of the newly established German Desk at JLL.
At the same time, UK property values have fallen by up to 25% in the space of a year. 'That sounds dramatic, but also has its advantages and winners. And German investors are among them,' Woitas said.
See also the latest acquisition by Deka in London
