First CBRE

First CBRE “Market Report Student Accommodation” Proves a
Need for Investment in Germany of Up to 4.1 Billion Euro in High
Quality Student Apartments

• Up to 47,000 additional single apart­ments required in the upper segment
• There is a lack of higher quality apart­ments in 53 of the 61 univer­sity locations

  analysed

• With popula­tions under 300,000, Karls­ruhe, Freiburg and Münster are the most promi­sing medium-sized cities from the perspec­tive of an investor
• Well-known univer­sity cities such as Göttingen or Marburg fall only in the midrange
• 26 indica­tors check invest­ment poten­tial in the location, for the first time with detailed conside­ra­tion of the univer­sity landscape

For almost 87 percent of the univer­sity locations in
Germany with over 8,000 students, there is further demand in the segment of high quality
single apart­ments alone. Accor­ding to calcu­la­tions by inter­na­tio­nally active property
consul­tancy company CBRE, there are currently around 260,000 poten­tial custo­mers for high
quality housing among the 1.85 million students who were studying at the univer­si­ties of the
61 locations inves­ti­gated during the 2011/2012 winter semester. With respect to the situa­tion
on the housing market, in a conser­va­tive calcu­la­tion, CBRE infers additional demand for
around 47,000 high quality single apart­ments. This corre­sponds to a total invest­ment volume
of up to 4.11 billion Euro – with an average apart­ment size of 25 square metres and overall
invest­ment costs of 3,500 Euro per square metre for an insti­tu­tional end investor. The stable
situa­tion on the German housing market and the conti­nuing high demand for small housing
offer excel­lent condi­tions for the invest­ment niche of student housing.

These are the results of the first “Market Report Student Accom­mo­da­tion”, which CBRE
presented yesterday together with Inter­na­tional Campus and Youniq in Frank­furt am Main.
The detailed study included all univer­sity locations with more than 8,000 students enrolled in
the 2011/2012 winter semester. 61 cities in Germany were there­fore analysed and ranked.

In addition to the housing market and socioe­co­nomic figures, for the first time, the
“2012/2013 Market Report Student Accom­mo­da­tion” has taken into account the parti­cu­larly
relevant – for the asset class of student accom­mo­da­tion – univer­sity landscape in the 144-
page analysis.

A demand analysis has been conducted for each of the indivi­dual locations: “the value added
by our market report lies in the estimate of the additional demand for high quality student
accom­mo­da­tion in a specific location. This estimate offers German and inter­na­tional
inves­tors an excel­lent guide for an invest­ment decision in the asset class of student
accom­mo­da­tion and allows direct compa­rison of all the relevant locations in Germany,”
explains Dr. Henrik Baumunk, Head of Residen­tial Valua­tion at CBRE. The highest overall
demand for additional high quality student accom­mo­da­tion – outside of the metro­po­lises – is
shown by the medium-sized cities of Darmstadt, Münster and Gießen due to their favourable
under­lying condi­tions.

In addition to popula­tion develo­p­ment and student numbers the figures analysed also include
details of the number of places in student halls and of the rate of place­ment in
accom­mo­da­tion in the respec­tive univer­sity location. On the level of the univer­sity landscape,
the factors taken into account include non-univer­sity facili­ties, support rate and the
availa­bi­lity of external funding. “With this study, we want to contri­bute greater trans­pa­rency in
the market for student and small housing. The forecast of the confe­rence of culture minis­ters
on first year student figures for 2012 is now already being signi­fi­cantly exceeded. We are
there­fore expec­ting growing student numbers, which will further boost demand. As such, the
demand shown by CBRE for almost 50,000 additional high quality apart­ments will see a
further signi­fi­cant increase in the coming years,” Inter­na­tional Campus AG Chairman Horst
Lieder comments on the analysis.

The CBRE “2012/2013 Market Report Student Accom­mo­da­tion” is based on exten­sive
quali­ta­tive research and numerical data available by September 2012. “No other publi­ca­tion
about the student housing market in Germany features a compa­rable level of detail. The
analysis enables decision-makers from the economy, adminis­tra­tion and politics as well as
interested members of the public to gain a compre­hen­sive overview. Thanks to the market
report, it is possible to make invest­ment decis­ions on a more founded basis and to provide
inter­na­tional inves­tors with an initial estimate of the additional demand for high quality
student apart­ments,” says Rainer Nonnengässer, Chairman of YOUNIQ AG.

Accor­ding to calcu­la­tions by CBRE, there is a need for invest­ment in additional high quality
student apart­ments in a total of 53 of the 61 univer­sity and college cities considered. The
locations with the greatest poten­tial for successful invest­ments in the long term are Munich,
Hamburg and Frank­furt am Main. Here, a strained housing market is accom­pa­nied by a low
rate of student place­ment in accom­mo­da­tion in student halls. Coupled with a relatively high
student income and stable develo­p­ment prospects for these cities, CBRE is there­fore
expec­ting continued high demand for sophisti­cated student accom­mo­da­tion.

If the univer­sity landscape category is considered on its own then Munich, Stutt­gart and
Berlin hold the top spots. In the category of under­lying socioe­co­nomic condi­tions, Munich,
Erlangen and Regens­burg are the ranking winners and in the housing market category, the
same locations as in the overall ranking are most convin­cing – only the order differs
(Hamburg 1st, Frank­furt 2nd, Munich 3rd).

In the evalua­tion of the 61 univer­sity locations examined with respect to poten­tial for
successful invest­ments in the long term, 45 locations achieve over 50 percent of the
maximum achie­vable point score. A maximum of 10 points can be awarded in the overall
ranking and in each of the three subca­te­go­ries, although the category of socioe­co­nomic
figures has a 35 percent impact, the housing market category has a 40 percent impact and
the univer­sity landscape category has a 25 percent impact on the overall result for the
respec­tive city.

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Cities in northern Germany in parti­cular show deficits with respect to the under­lying
socioe­co­nomic condi­tions such as purcha­sing power and popula­tion projec­tion. Even well-
known univer­sity locations such as Göttingen and Marburg achieve only the midrange due to
their only average projec­tions in buying power and popula­tion. By contrast, many medium-
sized cities such as Karls­ruhe, Münster and Freiburg im Breisgau are of greater interest for
inves­tors because they display attrac­tive socioe­co­nomic figures and a relatively strained
housing market with no appre­ciable vacancy rate and relatively high quoted rents over the 8
Euro mark. Regional centres and medium-sized cities in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and
North Rhine-Westphalia are parti­cu­larly promi­sing for invol­vement in the student
accom­mo­da­tion market. In the east of Germany, Berlin, Potsdam, Dresden and Jena
likewise perform well, being placed in the upper half of the overall ranking. The relaxed
housing marke­ting in Dresden, Jena and Leipzig is princi­pally respon­sible for the fact that the
invest­ment condi­tions there are not rated more positively.

The complete “2012/2013 Market Report Student Accom­mo­da­tion” can be obtained from
CBRE for a nominal fee of 4,500 Euro. Journa­lists can request a free copy of the market
report from CBRE.

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Contacts Names and Press Contacts

CBRE GmbH 

Dr Henrik Baumunk 

Managing Director/Head of Residen­tial Valua­tion 

Hausvog­tei­platz 10

D‑10117 Berlin

T: +49 30 726154–264

henrik.baumunk@cbre.com

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PR: ROZOK Commu­ni­ca­tion Consul­ting

Martina Rozok
Scharn­horst­straße 28

D‑10115 Berlin 

T: +49 30 4004468–1 

m@rozok.de

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Youniq AG

Rainer Nonnengässer 

CEO 

Eschers­heimer Landstraße 6

D‑60322 Frank­furt am Main 

T: +49 69 247472151 

rainer.nonnengaesser@youniq.de