_Economy and Finance

BERLIN OFFICE SPACE MARKET MAKES RECORD RESULT 9 Jan, 2013, Frankfurt • Vacancy rate falls further • Prime rent on upward trajectory The Berlin office space market has charted a record result for the second year in succession. Last year's very strong showing of 685,000 sqm of total rented office space was eclipsed in 2012 with a floor space turnover of 693,000 sqm. The rental volume for 2012 is therefore 47% above the average for the last ten years. In the second and third quarters in particular, Berlin companies proved very active in terms of leasing. Floor space turnover stood at an above-average 190,000 sqm over the two summer quarters. A solid result was achieved at the end of the year too, however, with a quarterly turnover of 173,000 sqm. http://www.cushwake.com/cwglobal/jsp/newsDetail.jsp?Country=DE&Language=EN&repId=c57000015p

Frankfurt office market 2012: Highest rental volumes for five years 7 Jan, 2013, Frankfurt • Strong fourth quarter sees space turnover on the Frankfurt office market climb over 500,000 sqm once more • Rental volumes 11% over ten-year average • Banks and financial services strongest rental group in 2012 despite all the uncertainties on the financial markets http://www.cushwake.com/

Bloomberg News Frankfurt Turns Offices to Homes as Excesses Lift Vacancy By Dalia Fahmy on November 09, 2012 Vijay Vankadari, who has renovated Frankfurt apartment buildings for more than a decade, used a cheap and plentiful resource for his latest residential project in the city: old office buildings that businesses won’t touch. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-08/frankfurt-turns-offices-to-homes-as-excesses-lift-vacancy

With solid quarterly results, the Frankfurt office space market heads toward the end of the year 9 Oct, 2012, Frankfurt • 342,000 sqm of office space leased by the end of September • Top lease rates stable • Vacancies continue light fall http://www.cushwake.com/

Frankfurt office market with solid rental performance at the half-year point 5 Jul, 2012, Frankfurt • Rental performance in the Frankfurt office space market at the long-term average in the first half of 2012 • 224,000 sq. m rented by the end of June • High-end lease prices stable • Vacancy rates fall http://www.cushwake.com/

Frankfurt's office market makes a strong start to the year 4 Apr, 2012, Frankfurt • No sign of springtime sluggishness • With a lease volume of 130,000 square metres in the first quarter, Frankfurt's office space market started the new year well • Market players appear active http://www.cushwake.com/

Savills: German office market hits three year take-up high (DE) Friday 20 January 2012 The five major German office markets of Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich ended 2011 on a three-year high in terms of take-up according to international real estate advisor Savills. The firm’s research shows that total take-up reached approximately 2.85 million m², close to 2008 levels (approx. 2.9 million m²). Compared to 2010 turnover increases are just below 7%. http://www.europe-re.com/system/main.php?pageid=2616&articleid=19509

Frankfurt office market: Solid Result Despite Space Reduction 4 Jan, 2012, Frankfurt • Letting volume of the Frankfurt office space market at 424,000 m² • Turnover falls by 11% on 2010 • Despite instability on the financial markets, banks and financial services remained one of the strongest tenant groups in 2011 Over the past twelve months, the rental volume of Frankfurt's office space (including Eschborn and Kaiserlei) under lease stood at around 424,000 m². This means rental turnover is around 11% less than the 475,000 m² for the previous year and a good 12% below the average for the past ten years (the average being 485,000 m²). According to Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) , this amounts to an altogether solid performance for the banking capital in spite of this reduction - especially when one considers the continuing, great instability on the worldwide financial markets, and also considering the fact that in the year 2010 the construction of the new headquarters of the...

ZEW/gif Office Market Forecast - Rents For Offices in Prime Locations Strongly Increase Prime rents at the five largest German office real estate markets Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Munich will considerably increase by the end of 2012. At the same time, the vacancy rate will hardly be reduced –with the exception of Düsseldorf and Frankfurt. These are the findings of the second survey among real estate market experts, which was conducted by the gif-Arbeitskreis Marktanalysen und Bedarfsprognosen (gif market analysis and demand forecasting working group) in cooperation with the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim. http://www.zew.de/en/press/1693/zewgif-office-market-forecast---rents-for-offices-in-prime-locations-strongly-increase

Office Market Frankfurt - Q3 2011 At 316,300 sq m, the Frankfurt office space take-up in the first three quarters was 13% lower than in the previous year. Compared to the previous year, when the space take-up volume was strongly influenced by the owner-occupied take-up by the European Central Bank, this result can be seen as robust.Without the ECB take-up, the growth in take-up would in fact have been at a satisfactory 22%. The vacancy rate rose slightly compared to the previous quarter by 0.2% points to its current level of 17.3%. With 12,700 sq m office space having been completed in the third quarter, the volume of new completions is at its lowest level for three years. The achievable prime rent remained stable at €38.00/sq m/month. Author(s): several Source: CB Richard Ellis Published: 27.10.2011 http://www.immopro24.com/market-report/office-market-frankfurt-q3-2011_1080.html

Office Market Frankfurt - Q2 2011 With an office space turnover of 230,200 sq m, the first half of 2011 was just under the result of the previous year (-0.4%). In contrast to the previous year when the proportion of owner-occupied transactions was at a high level, the first half result of the current year was characterised by a relatively low proportion of 10%. Author(s): several Source: CB Richard Ellis Published: 27.07.2011 http://www.immopro24.com/market-report/office-market-frankfurt-q2-2011_1020.html

Colliers: German office leasing market sees vacancies decline (DE) Thursday 21 July 2011 The German office leasing market showed its most positive side in the first half of 2011 in terms of take-up of space. Just under 1.42 million m² of space was taken up in the six most important centers of office activity, an increase of almost 19% from the previous year. At the same time, this is the second best half-year result since 2005,” emphasizes Andreas Trumpp, Head of Research at Colliers International in Germany. http://www.europe-re.com/system/main.php?pageid=2616&articleid=18515

Frankfurt as a Financial Centre June 13, 2011 4:12 pm Office market: Construction tracks the health of banking By Ed Hammond The lofty canyons of Frankfurt’s financial district are once again reverberating with the rumble of heavy machinery. Caterpillar-tracked piling rigs plunge drill heads into the soil, boring the deep holes for the concrete and steel foundations from which the city’s next generation of skyscrapers will rise. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ed5ea1c8-955e-11e0-a648-00144feab49a.html#axzz2PXw36Vqx

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE March 30, 2011 Frankfurt Longs for 'Mainhatten' Era Office-Market Activity Begins to Return Financial Capital to Golden Age By WILLIAM BOSTON | Special to the WSJ Prime Frankfurt office-building values are still 20% below 2007 peak levels and vacancy rates continue to exceed 15%. But you would never know that from the amount of investment and development activity beginning to take place. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703461504576230511567808374.html

February 25, 2011, 10:59 AM Frankfurt’s ‘Mainhattan’ Reaches for the Skies By Tom Fairless Frankfurt’s landmark towers are gleaming anew. This week, the last of 2,800 staff moved back into Deutsche Bank’s 155-meter towers, nicknamed “debit” and “credit,” after a three-year refurbishment. Everything bar the concrete skeleton is new. The pair will be formally launched at a party on Thursday. http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/02/25/frankfurts-mainhattan-reaches-for-the-skies/

Catching of one’s breath on Frankfurt’s market for office space 5 Jan, 2011, Frankfurt The annual property area turnover of 475,000 m² in 2010 represented an increase of about 36% over the result achieved in 2009 http://www.cushwake.com/

MarketView Office Market Frankfurt Q3 2010 In the first nine months of the year, office space take-up of 371,000 sq m was 25% higher than the figure reported for the same period last year; 35% of the take-up figure is accounted for by owner-occupiers. The positive take-up trend reflects the improving outline economic conditions in the city on the River Main. Author(s): several Source: CB Richard Ellis Published: 19.10.2010 http://www.immopro24.com/market-report/marketview-office-market-frankfurt_966.html

Frankfurt's Office Market Revives on Improved Rental Prospects By Peter Woodifield - Oct 7, 2010 Frankfurt’s office property market will probably attract the most investment this year since 2007 as the strengthening economy fuels demand for space, CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. said. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-06/frankfurt-s-office-property-market-revives-on-improved-prospects-for-rents.html

Frankfurt’s Office Market Releases the Handbrake 1 Oct, 2010, Frankfurt • The rental space for Frankfurt’s office market was 162,000 m2 for the 3rd quarter • Recovery in all size segments • Prime rent unchanged • All signs point to annual sales above 500,000 m2 http://www.cushwake.com/

Press Releases | Sep 27, 2010 Helaba presents a study on the Frankfurt office market: Commercial real estate financing in Germany emerging from the crisis In advance of the ExpoReal in Munich, Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thueringen has presented its study “Frankfurt office market: Quality counts”. In focus are the prospects for the office market in Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main economic region. Johann Berger, Vice Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors and responsible for real estate, also took the opportunity to comment on the outlook for commercial real estate financing in Germany. Whilst he sees no danger of an imminent credit crunch, at the same time risks for the supply of loans cannot be ruled out: https://www.helaba.com/en/Presse/PresseInformationen/2010/20100927-Immobilienstudie.html