The number of investment deals recorded in the Netherlands during the first five months of the year has risen sharply, according to new research from property adviser Savills.
The number of investment deals recorded in the Netherlands during the first five months of the year has risen sharply, according to new research from property adviser Savills.
In total 121 transactions were recorded in the period between January and May 2013 - a sharp increase on the 96 deals recorded during the same period in 2012. Savills forecasts that transaction numbers will continue to rise in 2013 and 2014, partly due to pressure on German open-ended funds to sell their portfolios.
The report also notes that price corrections across all sectors over the past year have led to an increasing alignment of buyer and seller expectations.
This trend saw total transaction volumes actually decrease year-on-year, from €1.2 bn in 2012 to €750 mln in 2013. Savills expects total investment volume across 2013 as a whole to hold steady on a year-on-year basis at €2.5 bn.
Savills notes that this reduction in prices has created a favourable market for opportunistic investors, with secondary and tertiary assets dominating activity. Major deals recorded this year include Union Investment’s purchase of the new Akzo Nobel HQ in Amsterdam for a reported figure of €80 mln.
The company’s Dutch head Clive Pritchard believes activity will continue to grow. ‘The interest from opportunistic investors, both domestic and international, is substantially increasing and we expect to see this interest turn into more transactions over the coming months,’ he said.
