15. November 2019 - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

An obscure billion-euro market

by Michael Psotta

A large number of properties are traded without being recorded in the statistics. Bulwiengesa is endeavouring to shed some light on this – without reaching any clear conclusions. The analytical company Bulwiengesa has made a second attempt after a year to quantify so-called off-market transactions on the real estate market. According to a study drawn up together with the real estate company HPBA the volume of this unofficial market for 2018 amounts to approx. 40 to 70 billion euros. […]

This article was originally published in German only. A summary in English is available.

Summary
The article reports on the second HPBA Off-Market Study, which has been published this year and which has again been prepared by HPBA in cooperation with bulwiengesa. According to the results of the study the estimated off-market volume in 2018 amounted to approx. 40 to 70 billion euros. The study points out that it is difficult to put a figure on off-market transactions as in contrast to on-market transactions these take place “out of the public eye”. John Amram, the founder of HPBA, is quoted as saying that off-market transactions reach those groups of investors that rarely participate in conventional purchases such as bidding processes. The FAZ article refers to the results of the study and the benefits of off-market transactions. These show that the overwhelming majority of the respondents are prepared to pay a price mark-up of as much as five per cent as the execution certainty of deals processed in the form of off-market transactions is greater.

4th OFF MARKET STUDY

OUT NOW!