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Some EUR 265 mln worth of properties changed hands in Dusseldorf in the first six months of the year, 40% less than the turnover for the same period last year, according to a report published by Colliers.

The first-half figure is well down on the annual average for the past 10 years: between 1998 and 2008, investment totalled an average EUR 1.05 bn per annum or EUR 525 mln on a six-monthly basis. Excluding the boom years of 2006 and 2007, the market still booked an annual average of around EUR 700 mln, or EUR 350 mln on a half-yearly basis.

A remarkable feature of the market in the first half was the relatively great demand for residential properties, Colliers said. High-quality residential properties accounted for some EUR 67 mln of transactions in the first half. These sales contributed a substantial 25% to the first half-year's turnover. Some EUR 92 mln or 35% was generated by the office sector.

Office take-up in the first six months was also down significantly at 86,000 m² compared with 196,000 m² in the year-earlier period, a drop of 57%. Medium-sized units between 1,000 and 2,000 m² and smaller units up to 500 m² were least affected by the decline. Only 1% of the office space let is to be found in C-quality buildings. This indicates that Düsseldorf’s office tenants have become more and more quality-conscious, and offices with very basic standards of location and quality are having a harder time finding new users.