Munich-based investment manager Catella Real Estate has already exceeded its target of placing equity of €155m for its open-ended special AIF Panta Rhei Dutch Residential, launched in 2015. Six institutional and professional investors have provided equity amounting to €155m, taking the fund’s investment potential to some €260m.
“The positive price trends for residential real estate in the Netherland continue. Prices rose 2.7% in the second quarter, and thus only 7% below the record prices of 2008 and 14% above the price levels of 2013. Also the current housing shortage in Dutch metropolitan areas is expected to persist. The number of new residential units is stagnating and the volume of planning permissions is on the decline. This makes the market very attractive for institutional investors”, says Dr Thomas Beyerle, Head of Group Research at Catella.
To date, €79.3m has been invested in seven properties in Eindhoven, Nijmegen, Rijswijk, Utrecht-Nieuwegein, Rotterdam and Leidschendam, with a lease rate of almost 98%. Real estate will be acquired for another €20m before year-end.
“The positive performance of the existing portfolio of our Dutch residential fund continues. Even though acquisitions are increasingly difficult and require extensive due diligence, properties worth more than €20m are to be purchased before the year-end. We are proud that, by using a new concept with specific regional know-how, we, together with our partner Panta Rhei Advisory, have succeeded in winning the trust of professional investors sooner than planned. Catella has been developing funds with international residential real estate since 2008. Currently, the total volume of the European residential property fund mandates managed by Catella Real Estate stands at approximately €1.5bn, says Henrik Fillibeck, Managing Director at Catella Real Estate.
Panta Rhei Dutch Residential was launched in 2015 and is a product of Catella Real Estate in cooperation with Panta Rhei Advisory. The fund invests exclusively in residential real estate in the Netherlands, focusing on locations in the provinces of Groningen, Randstad, North Brabant and Arnhem/Nijmegen. The investment concept has been classified as Core+. The fund’s strategy will specifically target the investment window of the next two to three years, which is subject to new regulation and benefits from additional market liquidity arising from residential property companies.
