Top seven markets down due to declines in Berlin and Hamburg – healthcare property plays a major role following the Aedifica-Cofinimmo merger
- Transaction volume (excluding residential) at €7.55 billion, up 23 per cent compared to Q1 2025
- Significant growth in Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart
- ‘Other’ property type – driven in part by the healthcare property sector, well ahead of offices, logistics and retail
Despite economic headwinds, the German commercial property investment market continued the upward trend of recent years at the start of 2026 during the first three months of the year. Transaction volume in the first quarter (excluding the residential sector) amounted to €7.55 billion, representing a 23 per cent increase compared with the same period last year (Q1 2025: €6.13 billion). This marked the third consecutive first-quarter increase in investment volume following 2024 and 2025. Despite this encouraging rise, the volume was significantly below the 5- and 10-year averages for the respective first quarters, at minus 14 per cent and minus 29 per cent.
Office buildings in first place – healthcare properties show strongest growth
The increase was driven by the strong performance of the ‘healthcare properties’ asset class, which alone contributed €1.23 billion (16%) to the total, almost double the figure for the same quarter last year. However, the largest property sector was “office”, which recorded a 9 per cent increase to €1.66 billion, accounting for 22 per cent of the transaction volume. This was followed by logistics and industrial, with shares of 18 per cent and retail with 16 per cent, both of which suffered slight to moderate declines (down 14 per cent to €1.35 billion and down 4 per cent to €1.21 billion).
Simon Jeschioro, Head of Capital Markets & Investment Advisory Germany at Cushman & Wakefield, comments: “The first-quarter results confirm our forecast of a steady and gradual recovery in commercial transaction volumes. Alongside the strong healthcare sector, the rise in the office sector is certainly encouraging, a sign of investors’ slowly returning confidence in this asset class. We also continue to observe strong investor interest in the retail sector, despite the slight decline in transaction volume over the first three quarters.
Such percentage changes are often due to statistical effects and are based on larger transactions such as the sale of the Designer Outlet Centre Neumünster to the TPG Group, brokered by Cushman & Wakefield, which was only signed and closed in 2026 but had already been recorded statistically in the previous year.”
Major individual transactions also outside the Top 7 – including the largest single deal
The strong performance of healthcare property is largely attributable to the German portion of Cofinimmo’s property portfolio, which was also the largest transaction of the first quarter. Aedifica has acquired just under 80% of Cofinimmo’s shares. In connection with this purchase, the transaction volume outside the top-7 markets also rose by 59 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2025, reaching €5.12 billion.
Numerous major individual transactions were recorded outside the top-7 markets: 12 of the top 20 took place outside the top-7. These include locations such as Kaarst, Bischweier, Nuremberg, Kiel and Warstein. The largest single transaction nationwide in the first three months was the purchase of the new NRW Financial Administration building (office and data centre) in Kaarst, Lower Rhine, by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia from Landmarken.
Portfolio share rises – proportion of foreign investors above average
At around €2.3 billion, portfolio purchases recorded a significant increase in volume, up by almost two-thirds compared with the same period last year. The share of the transaction volume is also above average at 30 per cent, compared to the five-year average of 27 per cent, and significantly higher than in the same quarter of the previous year (22 per cent). The diversity of the portfolios sold within just three months is remarkable: ranging from care homes, medical centres and retail properties to car repair workshops and thermal spas.
With a 43 per cent share of transaction volume, foreign investors recorded their highest relative figure since the first quarter of 2022. The German property market is once again increasingly perceived as attractive globally.
Top 7 markets show mixed results – Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart have recovered from the low point of Q1 2025
In the top 7 markets, the aggregate transaction volume fell by 17 per cent, driven by sharp declines in Berlin (down 44 per cent to €600 million) and Hamburg (down 59 per cent to €367 million). Düsseldorf recorded a slight increase of seven per cent, coming in ahead of Stuttgart with €193 million. Stuttgart, in turn, more than quadrupled the previous year’s result (Q1 2026: €131 million), but still lagged behind Cologne (€207 million and an increase of almost 50 per cent). Similar trends are also reported from Frankfurt and Munich, with increases of 56 per cent and 55 per cent respectively to €352 million and €588 million. The largest single transaction in the top 7 was completed in Munich city centre: the acquisition of the mixed-use complex “Alte Akademie”.
Simon Jeschioro concluded: “We do not yet see any concrete effects of the uncertainties on transaction processes. Nevertheless, the overall situation remains challenging in the short and medium term – an easing of the Middle East conflict could provide new impetus.”
