German real estate deals edge up in 2024, 2025 still seen muted

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated

08/01/2025 09:18

FRANKFURT, Jan 8 (Reuters) - A key indicator of the
health of Germany's property sector improved last year and will
make modest gains in 2025, though the next twelve months will
continue to be challenging, reports by two major real estate
firms said on Wednesday.
    Global real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said that
property transactions in Germany rose to 35.3 billion euros 
($36.42 billion) in 2024, an increase of 14% from a slump in
2023.
    Colliers, meanwhile, recorded transactions of 36.2 billion
euros, up 12%.
    Both firms forecast moderate growth in deals in 2025, but
total transactions will remain well below long-term averages,
underscoring the sector's continued struggles.
    Michael Baumann, Colliers' head of capital markets in
Germany, said geopolitical uncertainties, the outcome of 
federal elections next month and the course of the economy
"could dent the gradual recovery on the investment markets".
    For years, property in Europe and particularly Germany
boomed as interest rates fell, spurring demand. But starting in
2022, a sudden jump in interest rates and building costs tipped
some developers into insolvency as bank financing dried up and
deals froze.
    Germany has been hardest hit in Europe's real estate-related
rout that has also struck China and the United States.
    
($1 = 0.9693 euros)

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Transaction volume in Germany's property market    https://reut.rs/4ghf1s1
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 (Reporting by Tom Sims
Editing by Madeline Chambers)
 ((Tom.Sims@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220 133 645;))