Market recovers at different speeds in Europe with residential a big focus for the Netherlands

Richard Betts caught up with BayernLB’s Alexander Huber and Annemarie Leeuwen in Cannes to discuss the market outlook and strategy for real estate finance.

Now that we can assess 2024 a little more clearly it was in many ways a challenging year according to Alexander Huber, Global Head Real Estate at BayernLB “but we also saw some stabilization in the market which we hope to see more of in 2025 and also it gave us the opportunity to look into different markets where we would like to do more or be more selective as well.”

We clearly see that some markets are recovering faster than others says Huber “I would say Germany is one of the slowest markets in terms of recovery but if you look at markets like Italy there is a very positive momentum and we are also very convinced on the prospects for the Dutch market.”

Having opened a dedicated Amsterdam office in late 2023, Annemarie Leeuwen joined in 2024 to head the office. One of the key drivers according to Huber was a desire to serve Dutch clients closer to home “but we also wanted to explore more opportunities in the Dutch residential market rather than doing that out of Munich.”

Looking at the strategy in terms of the asset classes and priorities for the Dutch market, Annemarie Leeuwen, Head of Real Estate, Amsterdam highlights that the main part of the assets are in logistic, offices, retail and residential with an existing loan book of €1.5 billion Euros in the Netherlands. “Strategically, we want to focus on growing our financing in the residential sector” says Leeuwen; “of course, if we have an office request on the table we will look at it as well but to increase the diversification in our portfolio we are actively looking to add more residential financing to our loan book.”

Leeuwen adds “we are also looking to add hotel financing to the asset classes in the Netherlands and are currently working on the strategy. Our aim is to add that asset class in the course of next year and we are also in the process of researching additional asset classes. This research is still in progress but once it has been completed we will publish it on our social channels.”

In terms of the outlook for 2025, at the beginning of the year things seemed very promising according to Huber “but when you are looking at the last few weeks it suggests that it may be less easy than previously hoped. The political environment remains challenging and that will also have an impact on the market but the continued stabilisation in the real estate markets provides a more positive outlook.”