The German retail real estate investment market reached a transaction volume of EUR 1.9 billion in the first half of 2026, a decline of 35 percent compared to the same period last year. In particular, geopolitical uncertainties and their impact on both consumer sentiment and willingness to invest have recently had a significant impact and led to more intensive review processes and longer investment decisions. The largest share of the transaction volume was accounted for by specialist and food markets and retail parks with 44 per cent. This was followed by 1A retail properties with 26 percent and shopping centers with 16 percent. Other retail properties accounted for a share of 14 percent. In the first six months, there were hardly any major transactions – with the exception of the purchase of the Alsterhaus in Hamburg by the Schoeller Group family office and a German pension fund – a transaction in which CBRE acted as advisor. This is the result of a recent analysis by the global real estate service provider CBRE.
"The market has changed noticeably recently. For the first time in a long time, high-quality individual properties and various portfolios are being sold again, which were not available to the same extent in recent years," says Jan Schönherr, Head of Retail Investment at CBRE. The supply of both individual properties and portfolios has increased significantly, especially in the core-plus segment. At the same time, the number of sales processes has also increased – partly due to upcoming refinancings, capital outflows from various funds and increasing selling pressure on the part of owners.
Despite the larger supply, many transactions continue to be hesitant. "International investors in particular generally have sufficient capital resources, but in some cases different return expectations still prevent a successful conclusion," explains Schönherr. On the positive side, however, it should be emphasized that the price expectations of buyers and sellers are increasingly converging.
"Food retailing remains the most stable and sought-after segment of the market," says Schönherr. Specialty and food stores as well as retail parks accordingly maintain their position as the largest investment category. At the same time, individual retail concepts continue to be or are once again under pressure. As a result, properties that were previously assigned to the core-plus segment can now be acquired in part as value-add or even opportunistic investments.
"Prime yields were largely stable in the second quarter," says Anne Gimpel, Team Leader Valuation Advisory Services at CBRE. The prime yield for 1A retail properties in the top 7 cities remained unchanged at 4.44 percent, as in the previous quarter. Compared to the same period last year, this represents a minus of 0.2 percentage points. Prime yields for shopping centers in A-locations (5.9 percent), grocery stores (4.6 percent) and retail parks (4.9 percent) remained stable. Shopping centers in B locations recorded an increase of 0.25 percentage points to 7.75 percent compared to the same period last year. Overall, yields are currently at a largely stable level. However, with increasing selling pressure, rising yields in individual market segments could become apparent in the future.
Outlook for the rest of the year
"Despite the subdued first half of the year, a transaction volume of around five to six billion euros seems realistically achievable for the year as a whole," predicts Schönherr. "The pipeline for the second half of the year is well filled and includes numerous individual properties and portfolios, including large-volume ones."
