Â鶹ӳ»­

The spread of investments by German open-ended property funds (GOEFs) was virtually unchanged at end-March compared with a year ago, according to a survey of the sector by fund industry body BVI published on Tuesday.

Investments in Germany accounted for 28.3% of the total, slightly down on the 29.8% recorded at end-March 2009, followed by France with 18.9% (19.0%). The UK accounted for 9.7% of investments, up from the 9.5% registered a year ago. Investments in Eastern Europe made up 5.1% of the total. Outside of Europe, the US led the way with 4.2% of investments, followed by Japan at 2.9% and Canada at 2.4%.

Besides geographic spread, the survey also examined the transactional value, lease length and property type of GOEF investments. Close to 60% of the 1.495 properties had a transactional value of below EUR 50 mln, while only 276 assets were worth more than EUR 100 mln. Some 500 properties were valued at below EUR 25 mln. A year ago, some 66% of the total 1.588 properties held by GOEFs had a transactional value below EUR 50 mln.

In terms of sector type, the bulk (63.8%) of properties were offices, slightly down on the 64.4% recorded at end-March 2009. As for lease length, around 10% of lease agreements are due for renewal annually over the next five years (from 2010 through 2014), the survey found. Close to 50% of all lease agreements are set to run for another five years or longer.