Logistics investments in Germany at all-time high

Transaction volumes in the German industrial and logistics sector have been steadily increasing for the past few years, but investor interest seems to have picked up considerably this year. The sector's share of total investments in commercial real estate has doubled from the average 6% of the last few years to 12% in H1 2016, Colliers said.

'This trend shows that there continues to be strong potential in the market for industrial and logistics properties and that investor interest remains high,' said Peter Kunz, head of industrial & logistics at Colliers International Germany. 'Although the supply of attractive core assets is very limited, more than €1.2 bn was invested in Q2. As a result, investors are increasingly turning to higher-risk properties as well as to stock buildings and assets located outside of German investment hubs such as Munich, Hamburg and the Rhine-Main region.'

The share of portfolio deals has increased to €945 mln in the first six months of the year, a 44% share of the total, largely thanks to Goodman's sale of its pan-European portfolio, with Logicor buying several logistics properties in Germany. However, single deals continue to dominate the sector, with the largest including Eckpfeiler and Buschl's acquisition of 120,000 m2 Kirschgelande northwest of Munich.

International investors have accounted for €957 mln, or 45% of the total. Asset and fund managers like Gramercy Europe, Logicor and Geneba Properties, a Dutch investor that acquired eight properties in H1, have been the most active buyers with investments of over €1 bn, followed by project developers (€330 mln) and open-ended real estate funds (€225 mln).

The outlook for the second half of the year is positive, Kunz said: 'We continue to be optimistic about upcoming developments on the industrial and logistics property market and are expecting several large-volume transactions to be carried out in H2.'