Sun shining in Leipzig

As I sit here in the office with the glorious sun beaming down ou
tside and having just got back from a great inspection visit (the
weather is beautiful in Leipzig at the moment too), I’d like to
welcome
you to the monthly update from ProVenture. We hope you find this short
newsletter of interest and that it keeps you up-to-date with the
property investment scene in Germany.

German Economic Outlook

Confusion continues to reign on the

international money and equity markets, but stability over the
summer
(well, compared to last summer)is looking more likely.

In an attempt to reduce interbank

lending without reducing the headline interest rate, the ECB
inject a
huge amount of ?new money? into the system this month. The ECB
pumped a record ?442.2bn into the eurozone banking system in a f
irst
offer of unlimited one-year funds as it battled continental Europ
e’s
severe recession. The effect has been to see the lowest ever lev
el
of short term lending (LIBOR) for the Euro and a dramatic easing
in
credit conditions. It will be interesting next month to reflect
on
this recent move and determine what the effects on longer-term

lending has been in particular.

Concerning Germany, German business
confidence has brightened more than expected this month with

companies in Europe?s largest economy becoming markedly more
upbeat
on prospects for the next six months. The Munich-based Ifo insti
tute
reported its closely-watched ?business climate? index had risen
for
the third consecutive month, from 84.3 in May to 85.9 in June to
the
highest level since November. The Ifo conclude that this is usua
lly
consistent with a turning point in recessive conditions.

An

interesting article regarding Germany’s economic position as we
maybe
turning the corner in the recession (written by the head European
economics at Bank of America Merrill Lynch) is at:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c21fb0d2-551f-11de-b5d4-00144feabdc0.html

For Sterling-based investors, some good
news this month was the continued softening of the Euro which

currently stands at 1.18 Eur:GBP, and has nearly reached 1.20
over the
last few days.

Finance Update

Rates on the longer-term fix mortgages

are starting to drop once more from their recent (relative)
highs.
Due to the effective quantitative easing measures in the Eurozone
and
also a revised view on any imminent inflation rate increase, rate
s
have dropped around 0.1% this month and are tipped to continue to
fall by a number of bankers interviewed this month.

Favourable loan-to-value finance is

still available for our clients up to 80% of the property value
or
purchase price paid.

The swap rate is at:

http://www.swap-rates.com/EUROSwap.html

Activity on the Ground

June has been a great month in Germany.

I am sure the weather helps in this job (I remember walking the
lonely streets of Leipzig alone in February, taking pictures of

properties covered in snow). We have had offers agreed on 3
properties (price range 300 ? 500k) and have a full viewing sche
dule
booked for July.

We have also been very busy bringing new properties

to the market, in Leipzig, Halle and Berlin. The links at the
bottom of this e-mail will
take you the new properties for your research and interest.

Top Tip

Property Finding Service

For many of our clients who do not find

exactly what they are looking for on our website offers, we offer
a
bespoke property finding service. After a consultation by teleph
one,
email or face-to-face, we will search the market on your behalf f
or
property which fits your investment objectives. Typically this

search would include:

* Property Location (city)

* Type of location (tenant type,
relative wealth and character of area)

* Price Range

* Price per sqm

* Target yield

* Mix of residential Vs commercial

* Level of refurbishment, if any
* Year of construction / when last
refurbished

Once we have your objectives, we can
make use of the range of our connections and suppliers to determi
ne
if that property is out there.

Please let us know if you would like us

to conduct such a search of the German market on your behalf.
The
service costs nothing and we really enjoy successfully matching

client objectives to new properties to the market where we can.
Please check the

website for all our new property offers in the cities of Leipzig
and
Berlin.

Finally, please enjoy the summer

weather, be that on a beach or on a street looking at your next
property investment.

Happy investing,

Mat

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