German retail investment market: “Food, food, food” instead of “location, location, location”

The investment volume on the German retail property investment market came in at €9.4 billion ($11.2 billion) in the first three quarters of 2020. Compared with the year-earlier period, this marks growth of 32 percent that was driven above all by a few large-scale transactions. Various department store transactions and several portfolio deals involving food markets were recorded, among other transactions, in the first six months; in the third quarter, SIGNA’s portfolio acquisition from Quantum and a fund transaction comprising three shopping centers between two ECE funds contributed to the high overall volume. This is the conclusion drawn in a current analysis prepared by global commercial real estate services company CBRE.

“The large transaction volume should not, however, disguise the fact that Corona and its impact is still determining the retail property market. The real estate adage of ‘Location, Location, Location’ has been replaced by ‘Food, Food, Food’ �