Logistics real estate investment market gains momentum despite lower volume

Number of deals rises, but only one major transaction recorded

FRANKFURT, 24 July 2025 – The German investment market for logistics and industrial real estate has improved only slightly since the beginning of the year: the transaction volume in the second quarter of 2025 amounted to around 1.3 billion euros, just under 200 million euros more than in the first quarter. This brings the transaction volume for the first half of 2025 to €2.4 billion, which is a 24 per cent drop compared to the same period last year. However, the transaction volume is 36 per cent below the five-year average, which includes the particularly high-volume years of 2021 and 2022. 

‘The momentum in the logistics investment market is higher than the transaction volume would suggest,’ says Diana Schumann, Head of Industrial & Logistics Investment JLL Germany. "Deals still take a long time to close, which is particularly true for exclusive portfolio transactions that have not yet been signed but are likely to be reflected in the results in the near future. In addition, the number of investment opportunities in the market has increased and the rental markets are also sending more positive signals again, which is having a direct impact on the investment markets. Not only a higher number, but also more significant deals are therefore likely to lead to a much stronger second half of the year." Schumann forecasts a transaction volume of around seven billion euros for the year as a whole.

Only one transaction worth more than 100 million euros was recorded in the first half of the year, accounting for just under five per cent of the transaction volume, whereas in the same period last year there were eleven transactions that together accounted for more than half of the total volume. On the other hand, the total number of deals increased, with 122 deals, 15 more than in the first half of 2024.

‘Liquidity for individual transactions of more than 100 million euros is currently limited. Buyers in this segment have higher return requirements, not least because competition is lower for these ticket sizes,’ said Schumann. ‘The situation is different for smaller volumes. Here, there is more liquidity and an improved basis for buyers and sellers to agree on a price. This situation has been directly reflected in the increased number of transactions and sends a positive signal that the market is willing and momentum is increasing.’  

One of the most significant transactions of the first half of the year was the sale of the Ford factory site in Saarlouis by the car manufacturer to the Saarland Economic Development Corporation. In addition, the AustralianSuper fund entered into a joint venture with the Canadian real estate company Oxford Properties and acquired a stake in its ESCIP portfolio and in M7 Real Estate. Real estate also changed hands as part of the takeover of DB Schenker by logistics service provider DSV. 

While core-plus properties accounted for around 60 per cent of the transaction volume in recent years, this figure was around 40 per cent in the past six months. Core properties increased slightly to 22 per cent. Properties with a value-add risk profile, which now account for 26 per cent, and opportunistic transactions, which grew slightly to 12 per cent, played a much stronger role. ‘Liquidity in the core segment remains limited and selective. Although there are sustainable new-build products on the market, they are often not located in the sought-after prime locations. Value-add and opportunistic products have increased, as the yield requirements of active and often international capital allow such properties to be acquired,’ explains Schumann. 

International market participants were more active on the buyer side, accounting for 55 per cent of transactions, while they were responsible for only 20 per cent of the volume on the seller side. On balance, they thus increased their real estate portfolio by 832 million euros. ‘As is so often the case at present, international players view the German market more positively than we ourselves view it and the local economy,’ Schumann continues. 

There has recently been a slight correction in prime yields, which currently stand at a uniform 4.4 per cent in the seven real estate strongholds (Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Stuttgart) and are likely to remain stable. In the same quarter of the previous year, they ranged from 4.4 to 4.45 per cent and, in the meantime, stood at 4.3 per cent in the top five locations. 
 
Contact: Diana Schumann, Head of Industrial & Logistics Investment JLL Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 211 13006 410
Email: diana.schumann@jll.com

About JLL

For more than 200 years, JLL (NYSE: JLL), a leading global commercial real estate and investment management firm, has been helping clients buy, build, use, manage and invest in a wide range of commercial, industrial, hotel, residential and retail properties. As a Fortune 500® company with annual revenue of £16.5 billion and offices in more than 80 countries worldwide, our approximately 112,000 employees offer the power of a global platform combined with local expertise. Driven by our goal to shape the future of real estate for a better world, we help our clients, employees and society – true to our motto ‘SEE A BRIGHTER WAY’. JLL is the brand name and a registered trademark of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. All contact details and press information for JLL Germany can be found at: http://jll.de/Presse