Geschäftsbericht 2015, englisch

münchener Hypothekenbank eg | annual report 2015 management report 18 Property Price Index grew by 2.0 percent compared to the same- year-ago figure. Commercial Property – International The commercial property market also expanded internationally. In- vestors focused on liquid markets offering a broad range of large- volume properties. Within Europe the most attractive investment destinations were Great Britain, France and Germany. The rankings changed as the enormous increase in the volume of transactions in Germany moved it up to the number two position behind Great Britain as France slipped to number three. The volume of transac- tions in Europe once again grew very strongly and by the end of the third quarter had increased by 27 percent to € 182 billion. “The commercial property market also expanded inter­ nationally. Within Europe the most attractive destinations for investors were Great Britain, France and Germany.” Turnover of office space was very high and especially in the fourth quarter. In addition, on a European-wide basis rents rose by almost 3 percent compared to the same year-ago figure. At the same time vacancy rates fell. At the end of 2015 the average vacancy rate for office space in the 24 most important office markets in Europe was just under 9 percent, which was the lowest vacancy rate since the end of 2008. Great Britain was the unchallenged sales leader in the commercial properties market with 64 billion pounds. Turnover only rose margin- ally compared to the previous year’s figure. The transaction market remained heavily dominated by foreign investors as they represented about half of the volume. Investors remained primarily focused on office properties in London, where vacancy rates sank below 3 per- cent. This in turn led to further increases in rents charged in the London City. Paris retained its title as the European city with the second largest volume of property investments. Properties valued at about € 19 bil- lion changed hands in the greater Paris region, or about 7 percent more than in the previous year. French investors accounted for more than two-thirds of all transactions made followed by American in- vestors with a share of about 14 percent. Investors preferred to buy office properties. Although the market for office users was muted in the first half of 2015, by the end of the year volumes marketed had been propelled to 2.2 million square meters due to very good rental results. Vacancy rates only fell at a very slow pace thus allow- ing rents to remain at a generally stable level since 2013. Peak re- turns declined further in view of unbroken high demand. The Dutch commercial property market again developed at a lively pace. With sales of almost € 12 billion in 2015, the market posted the highest turnover recorded in many years with foreign investors, mainly coming from the USA and the UK, made about half of the volume of transactions. More than one-third of the investments made flowed into office properties. Correspondingly, turnover of office space increased substantially and especially in Amsterdam. High demand also led to a further mild decline in top returns. “Investments in American commercial property increased substantially. Property prices also rose.” The upswing in the commercial property markets in the USA con- tinued. Based on first projections, property investments totalled about US$ 435 billion in 2015, or about 20 percent over the pre- vious year. Parallel to the increase in the volume of investments made, the property price index published by Moody’s/RCA showed an increase of 1.4 percent just in November alone, with a gain of 14.7 percent year-over-year. Prices for office properties in central business districts posted strong above-average growth of about 26 percent. The development of these prices was accompanied by a further improvement in the condition of the office market as the vacancy rate fell to 14.7 percent, which was the lowest rate recorded in the past eight years. The range extended from 6.4 per- cent in Salt Lake City to 24.6 percent in New Jersey. Rents paid for office space recorded a slight gain of 2.3 percent while top rents paid declined by a further 10 basis points.

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