Be Selective, Investors In Germany Advised

When it comes to property investment, Germany appears to represent a bit of a conundrum. On the one hand, it is a well-known fact that the country does not have the sort of property-owning culture that the UK does. Less than half of Germans own their own homes, which means that the rental market is large at any time and larger still in areas of very low homeownership such as Berlin.

At the same time, the country has not seen the sort of housing booms which have occurred in other European countries such as the UK, Ireland and Spain. While some may put this down to the effects of reunification and the various economic problems the country has endured in recent years, the trend goes back further than that.

Irish news website Finfacts recently reported figures from the Swiss Bank for International Settlements, which showed that since 1970 house rice inflation in Spain had risen in real terms by 3.95 per cent per year - second only to Britain - while France had seen a 2.55 per cent rise. Germany, by contrast, was actually down 0.38 per cent, the only one of 18 leading industrialised nations to see a fall.

Some may wonder in such circumstances why anyone would want to invest in Germany. Discussing this, German property specialists Knight Frank said the key was finding the right locations to invest in. International residential research partner Mick Barnes warned: "Stock selection is very much key in Germany. There are a lot of locations where you wouldn't make a profit on your investment - I wouldn't buy in east Germany and I would only advise Berlin selectively as it has its own economic issues that need to be resolved".

Yet find the right location, he suggested and the outcome could be very favourable. "It seems that if you get the right location and the right property, yields can be pretty attractive, ranging from anything between six and eight per cent," he stated.

If Berlin - or at least parts of it - are not the best to invest in, then many other cities are, he suggested. Chief among these were Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Stuttgart, but others are coming up, such as Heidelburg.

Of course, not everybody takes such a view of the most favourable German locations. Earlier this month, AFP news reported that Berlin has enjoyed its busiest 12 months for property buying since WWII, with 70 per cent of the transactions being from overseas - Britons included.

It could be that those making such investments are taking a punt on the German capital finally bursting into new life economically after years of gloom. But equally, it may be that at least some of those making such purchases are being as selective as Mr Barnes has said they should be. Either way, if Germany's property market is an enigma, there seem to be plenty willing to try to crack the code.

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