Given the low interest rate environment and the yield spread offered by real estate, investors’ capital inflow into real estate markets remained strong last year. This resulted in a total investment volume of € 18.5 billion, very much driven by the large appetite from international investors. While this was the third highest volume ever recorded in the Netherlands, it did remain 12% behind last year’s total.
We expect investors’ appetite to remain high for real estate investments, due to the fact that real estate continues to prove its value in terms of adding diversification to investment portfolios and the total returns it offers compared to interest rates and other asset classes.
The Dutch office investment market totalled € 5.2 billion in 2019, compared with € 5.8 billion in the previous year. In relative terms, the share of the office sector in total investment volumes remained fairly stable, coming in at 28.0%, compared with 27.7% in 2018.
On a regional level, investments in the Amsterdam office sector increased substantially and reached € 1.8 billion in 2019 (+28% y-o-y). Investments in The Hague amounted to € 320 million, a 15% increase compared with last year. In Rotterdam, Utrecht and Eindhoven, office investments remained subdued compared with the previous year, mainly as a result of a lack of stable investment opportunities. This assumption is supported by a further drop in yield levels by 15 bps in Amsterdam and 25-50 bps in the other four major cities in the Netherlands.
Investor key factors | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 forecast |
|---|
Prime net initial yields (excl. purchase costs, year-end) | 3.00% | 2.85% | → |
Investment volumes (€ bln) | € 5.8 | € 5.2 | → |
Sources: JLL, Bouwinvest Research & Strategic Advisory