Sascha Hettrich said Chinese capital has not yet invested inGermany but this is likely to come soon. "Chinese investors arelooking around now, knocking on a lot of doors and informingthemselves, while we have seen quite a lot of Indian-source capitalinvested here already over the last three years," he told a newsbriefing in Frankfurt. He expects both capital sources to usedirect and indirect channels to invest in Germany, seen as a coreinvestment in global property terms. "The first Indian funds arenow looking for commitments from back home to make investments inGermany," he added.

The new interest is part of a gradual return of foreigninvestors to the German market. Mid-East investors have alreadybeen active. Also, said Hettrich, "The US and the UK are back!"Even if the Irish are not yet visible, net yields of up to 5% inGermany are highly attractive compared to under 3% on offer inDublin or other centers such as Copenhagen.

Even some opportunistic institutions are being seen once again;however, financing remains the major obstacle. Banks are not yetprepared to lend above 60% loan to value and still avoiding thehigh ratios to support opportunistic returns. "The differencebetween this year and last is that last year investors had themoney but the prices were too high and the quality was not whatthey wanted. Now, the price gap between buyers and sellers hasbecome more realistic. We assume we will see opportunistic dealsthis year."