German real estate transaction volume in 2012 is likely to exceed €20 billion, according to Savills, following a strong performance in 2011, when property valued at approximately €22.6 billion changed hands. Both German and international investors have been active buyers of German property, pushing up the 2011 total by 20 percent from the €18.77 billion in transaction volume recorded in 2010.

“The final quarter of 2011 recorded the second-best investment volume of the year at approximately €5.8 billion, showing little evidence in the investment market of a deteriorating macroeconomic environment,” says Lars-Oliver Breuer, head of investment at Savills Germany.

“Given a number of uncertainties, it is difficult to provide an outlook for 2012,” Breuer adds, “but what will be crucial is whether the situation in the financial markets stabilises and if the euro zone succeeds in convinci