A study entitled ‘Residential Market Ranking Germany 2015 – Regional residential markets under the spotlight’ compiled by Catella shows an increasing international investor focus on regional residential markets in Germany.

“This positive development in the top seven residential markets is, however, offset by in some cases significant transparency gaps at the regional locations,” said Dr. Thomas Beyerle, head of group research at Catella, explaining the factors that motivated the analysis.

According to the analysis, the top five investment locations in the residential segment in 2015 are Ingolstadt, Regensburg, Darmstadt, Potsdam and Hannover.

The five places of least interest to property investors are Coburg, Siegen, Detmold, Remscheid and Herne.

Regionally, it is noticeable that strong residential markets appear to be concentrated in the north and south of the country, with 9 of the top 25 locations in Bavaria and Baden Württemberg.

“There is no doubt that the current hype about German residential properties is significantly influenced by a lack of alternative investment options, driven above all by the global interest rate environment as well as the returns expected by investors”, added Beyerle.