Geschäftsbericht 2015, englisch

münchener Hypothekenbank eg | annual report 2015 management report 46 A further improvement in the situation in the residential and com- merciaI property markets is forecast for the Netherlands due to expected higher economic growth coupled with lower unemploy- ment. However, regional differences could become increasingly visible with substantially higher prices appearing in business centres in contrast to weakening demand in rural regions. The pace of the strong rise of prices in the Swiss residential prop- erty market will slow even further. Many experts expect a soft landing for this phase, which has lasted ten years. Although pur- chase prices will remain at a high level they will only continue to rise in individual regions. Forecasts are even calling for slightly declining prices for condominiums and rental apartments in some Swiss regions. Demand will remain supported by high purchasing power, a low level of interest rates, and a growing population. At the same time demand for housing will be concentrated in major cities like Zurich, Geneva and Basel. Concurrently, stricter lending rules mean that the number of households that can afford to buy housing will decline. According to figures prepared by Eurocon- struct, the supply of residential housing is expected to increase in 2016 as the volume of newly built housing will be at about the previous year’s level. “In view of the solid economic situation, the stable rental markets and the unchanging favourable environment for financing, the German property market will remain one of the most attractive.” Forecasts for the USA call for the favourable development in the property markets to continue. As people increasingly wish to own their own four walls this desire will further animate the residen- tial property market, as the higher level of economic growth goes hand-in-hand with rising household incomes. A certain amount of catch-up effect is visible, especially among younger households, which has been built up over the years following the crisis in the financial markets. The trend towards higher prices and rents, which has been observed since mid-2012, will continue as supply will not noticeably expand. This has already led to the first warnings being sounded about the renewed creation of a bubble in the housing market. A further increase in the volume of investments in the American commercial property market is expected, and especially for office properties. Market observers are already viewing certain markets more critically; for example, growth in San Francisco and Silicon Valley is forecast to peak in the coming 24 months. Development of business at Münchener Hypothekenbank Our new business plans for 2016 foresee – as described – that overall conditions will remain favourable thereby enabling us to continue our sustainable growth strategy. We will also continue to assert ourselves in the face of fierce competition. Due to the fact that we were able to decisively build up our competitive strengths and expand our market position in recent years we anticipate that our new business will again reach the level posted for the year under review. The focus will remain on financing residential property in Germany via banks within the Cooperative Financial Network. Working to- gether with them puts strong sales partners at our side. We antici­ pate the cooperative banks will also be able to expand their share of the residential property financing sector in 2016. Due to the on- going phase of low interest rates, our Bank will see demand for its long-term loans remain at a high level. Our business with banks within the Cooperative Financial Network will continue to be pri- marily focused on financing single-family houses and condomin- iums. In addition, we want to further expand the cooperation with our cooperative partner banks in financing residential and com- mercial properties bought by housing companies and professional investors. We anticipate that our collaboration with independent providers of financial services will lead to higher sales in 2016 than we recorded in 2015. Based on the healthy demand situation we expect that our cooperation with Swiss PostFinance will lead to a further favour- able development of our new business with them.

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