REALOGIS market analysis: Germany's top locations for warehouse, logistics and industrial space outperform 5-year average

• Top 8 rental and owner-occupier markets down 8.5 % to 3.53 million m²
• NEW: Analysis of take-up - top 8 are tenant markets
• Retailers set the pace in the take-up of warehouse and logistics space
• NEW: Space segment category: large spaces ensure fulfilment of needs in supplying the population and supply chains
• High prime rent dynamics
• 40 largest lease agreements responsible for 40 % take-up

Munich, 16 February 2023 - In its latest market analysis, Realogis - Germany's leading consultancy for industrial and logistics properties and commercial land - examined the take-up of space in Germany's top 8 locations for warehouse, logistics and industrial properties. According to the study, the annual take-up for rent and owner-occupation achieved by all market participants in Hamburg, Berlin, the Ruhr region, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich totalled 3.53 million m². According to Realogis, this result represents a year-on-year decline of 8.5%. In the record year 2021, 3.86 million m² were still taken up.

"Even though we are seeing a decline, 2022 was a good year for Germany's top locations for logistics and industrial property. Last year, the rental and owner-occupier markets achieved the second-highest take-up in the past five years," comments Bülent Aldemdag, Managing Director at Realogis. This is also reflected in the 5-year average of 3.3 million m², which was exceeded by 6.8%.

For the first time, the Berlin metropolitan region accounted for the largest share of take-up in the past year among all eight top locations (2021: 4th place). A total of 1.12 million m² was taken up in the capital city market in the months from January to December 2022, almost a third (31.8%) of all space in all eight top locations. Tesla's take-up of 327,000 m² was the main reason for the all-time high and the 80% increase on the previous year's result of 624,700 m².

The previous year's winner, the Ruhr region, came in second place in 2022 with 519,430 m² (-25% compared to FY 2021) and a 14.7% share of the result. Hamburg was once again in third place with 490,000 m² (-22% compared to FY 2021) and a 13.9% share of the result.

The midfield is shared by Frankfurt with 317,700 m² or 9%, which halved the previous year's figure of 655,700 m² to -52%. At 316,000 m² or 8.9 %, Stuttgart was the only German metropolitan region besides Berlin to record growth (+7 % take-up compared to FY 2021).

The top German locations of Düsseldorf (265,200 m² or 7.5 %; -24 % compared to FY 2021), Munich (250,000 m² or 7.1 %; -17 % compared to FY 2021) and Cologne (249,400 m² or 7.1 %; -20 % compared to FY 2021) fell below the 300,000 m² mark.

The past year was not positive for every submarket in terms of take-up. A look at the average take-up of space over the past five years shows that Berlin and Stuttgart are the only markets that performed significantly above their respective 5-year averages in 2022 (634,878 m² and 223,352 m² respectively), at 77% and 41%. Hamburg (498,000 m²), Cologne (241,480 m²) and Düsseldorf (265,240 m²) were close to or at the same level as the last five years at -2 %, 3 % and 0 % respectively. Munich (302,700 m²) and the Ruhr region (617,000 m²) were unable to maintain the level of the previous years with -17% and -16% respectively.

NEW: Analysis of take-up - top 8 are tenant markets

In its market analysis of the top locations, Realogis has also analysed the occupier structure in greater detail for the first time. The past year showed that the majority of market activity was dominated by tenants, who took up 2.8 million m² or 79%, or almost four out of five square metres. Only 21%, or 712,500, was accounted for by owner-occupiers, with the Tesla deal alone contributing almost half of this figure.

Retail sets the pace in the take-up of warehouse and logistics space / industry/production up by 80%

Retail ranked first in terms of take-up by sector in 2022 with 1.24 million m² or 35.2 %, up from second place in the previous year with 1.35 million m².

"In 2022 as a whole, the retail sector set the pace for the new use of warehouse and logistics space, overtaking logistics companies and freight forwarders," says Jörg Lojewski, Managing Director at Realogis.

"For the first time, we also analysed the roles of traditional retail and e-commerce. According to the study, the majority of take-up in 2022 was accounted for by companies in the traditional retail sector, with 739,702 m² or 59.4%. At 505,272 m², companies from the e-commerce sector accounted for 40.6%," adds Managing Director colleague Stefan Imken.

In second place, only just behind retail, is the logistics/forwarding sector with 1.21 million m² or 34.5%. In the previous year, logistics/forwarding was still clearly in first place with 45.6% or 1.76 million m² and lost 11.1 percentage points in terms of proportionate importance. In terms of absolute take-up, the sector also lost the most ground of all three sectors with -30.8 %. Industry/manufacturing remains in third place with 814,417 m² or 23.1%, which was able to increase its proportionate importance by 11.4 percentage points, the most of all sectors (FY 2021: 451,242 m² or 11.7%) and also increased by 80% in absolute terms. Once again in last place is the miscellaneous category with 255,516 m² or 7.2 %.

NEW: Take-up by size category

For the first time, Realogis has also analysed the most heavily used space segments in the eight top German locations for warehouse, logistics and industrial properties. "Large spaces of 10,001 m² or more were by far the most frequently used in the top eight German locations to fulfil the needs of retail, logistics and industry in the areas of supplying goods to the population and creating functioning and crisis-proof supply chains," says Julian Petri, Managing Director at Realogis. They accounted for a total of 2.24 million m² or 63.4% in 2022.

Larger spaces between 5,001 and 10,000 m² came in third place with 424,078 m² or 12%, while medium-sized to larger spaces between 3,001 and 5,000 m² came in fourth place with 291,026 m² or 8.2%. Small to medium-sized spaces are the second most sought-after size category after large spaces with 432,060 m² or 12.2%, while micro spaces accounted for a total of 146,530 m² or 4.1% of take-up, putting them in last place.

High prime rent momentum

"Prime rents rose significantly in all eight markets analysed," reports Joel Adam, Managing Director at Realogis. "The average increase in the top eight compared to 2021 as a whole is over 14.3%."

With the exception of Frankfurt, all markets recorded a double-digit percentage increase.

Munich remains the most expensive location at €9.75/m² (+14.7%, up from €8.50/m²). Berlin remains in second place at €9.00/m² (+20%, up from €7.50/m²). In third place is the previously fifth-placed Hamburg market at €7.80/m² (+16.4% up from €6.70/m²) together with Stuttgart, also at €7.80/m² (+11.4% up from €7.00/m²) - up from fourth place. In fifth place is Frankfurt at €7.30/m² (+2.8% up from €7.10/m²) - Frankfurt was previously the third most expensive location. Düsseldorf is in sixth place with €7.15/m² (+13.5% coming from €6.30/m²). The second cheapest market was Cologne at €7.00/m² (+17.6%, up from €5.95/m²) - despite the third-highest increase of the top locations, it remains in the lower ranks. The most favourable location is still the Ruhr region at €6.50/m² (+18.2% from €5.50/m²). The Ruhr is the only market with a prime rent below €7.00/m².

The 40 largest lease agreements account for almost 40% of total take-up

"With an accumulated take-up of 1.35 million m², the 40 largest leases signed by all market participants accounted for around 38% of the total take-up of all top 8 locations in 2022," explains Julian Petri, Managing Director at Realogis.

1  Berlin  Tesla    327,000 m²  Industry/production  New build
2  Ruhr region  ITG  50,000 m²  Logistics/forwarding  New build
3  Ruhr region  Picnic 50.000 m²  E-commerce  New building
4  Ruhr region  LIDL  50,000 m²  Classic retail  New building
5  Hamburg  Aldi    42,500 m²  Classic retail  New building
6  Berlin  Sonepar  41.250 m²  Conventional retail  New build
7  Frankfurt  B+S   39,500 m²  Logistics/forwarding  Existing
8  Berlin  Tesla     38,887 m²  Industry/production  New build
9  Stuttgart  REWE  35.000 m²  Conventional retail  Existing
10  Stuttgart  Unknown   
                  33,263 m²  Logistics/forwarding  New build
11  Berlin  LIDL    32.738 m²  Classic retail  New building
12  Düsseldorf  Vaillant Group   
                  32,000 m²  Industry/production  New building
13  Berlin  Schnellecke 30.800 m²  Logistics/forwarding  New build
14  Hamburg  Airbus  30,000 m²  Industry/production  Existing
15  Cologne  LIDL        30,000 m²  Classic retail  Existing
16  Cologne  Hammer    30.000 m²  Logistics/forwarding  New building
17  Hamburg  Pfaff Logistik  29,500 m²  Logistics/forwarding  Existing
18  Ruhr area  WM Group   29.423 m²  Logistics/forwarding  New building
19  Munich  Winning BLW  28,000 m²  Industry/production  Existing
20  Cologne  Computacenter   28,000 m²  Other  Existing
21  Ruhr area  ALT Finecom 28.000 m²  Logistics/forwarding  Existing
22  Frankfurt  Rexel        26,000 m²  Classic retail  New build
23  Hamburg  Picnic        25,000 m²  E-commerce  New build
24  Hamburg  JYSK        24.000 m²  Classic retail  New building
25  Cologne  Siewert & Kau    23,000 m²  E-commerce  New building
26  Stuttgart  E. Breuninger 22.282 m²  E-Commerce  Existing
27  Düsseldorf  Picnic     20,000 m²  E-Commerce  New building
28  Düsseldorf  Bohnen Logistik  19,356 m²  E-Commerce  New building
29  Stuttgart  Krannich Solar     16.000 m²  Classic retail  New build
30  Stuttgart  Tesla Motors
                   Netherlands  15,460 m²  Industry/production  Existing
31  Munich  DHL       14.000 m²  Logistics/forwarding  New building
32  Düsseldorf  Galaxus  14,000 m²  E-Commerce  New building
33  Cologne  Offergeld      14,000 m²  Logistics/forwarding  New building
34  Düsseldorf  Gate 41 Logistics
                        13.364 m²  Logistics/forwarding  Existing
35  Munich  Proton Motor Fuel Cell   
                       13,200 m²  Industry/production  Existing
36  Frankfurt  Atrikom  12.532 m²  Logistics/forwarding  New building
37  Munich  Mynaric  11,000 m²  Industry/production  Existing
38  Frankfurt  Grieshaber
        Logistics Group  10.495 m²  Logistics/forwarding  New building
39  Frankfurt  Breitfeld
        and Schliekert  10,177 m²  Classic retail  Existing
40  Munich  FS.COM    8,800 m²  E-Commerce  Existing

Press contact REALOGIS:
Silke Westermann
Public Relations Specialist
Tel: +49/211/53 88 3-440
E-Mail: s.westermann@shcommunication.de

Corporate contact REALOGIS:
REALOGIS Holding GmbH
Silja Schuppler
Marketing
Rundfunkplatz 4, 80335 Munich
Tel: +49/89/51 55 69 17
E-mail: s.schuppler@realogis.de
www.realogis.de