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

FRANKFURT (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)