Coronavirus Crisis Causes Sentiment in Commercial Real Estate Financing to Fall to Historic Lows

The ongoing coronavirus crisis is now also reflected in the German Real Estate Finance Index (DIFI) of ZEW and JLL. In the second quarter of 2020, the sentiment indicator fell by 37.8 points to a current level of minus 56.7 points, with both the assessment of the current financing situation and the financing expectations for the coming six months having declined significantly. The variety of economic consequences and the uncertain impact of national and European economic stimulus packages have pushed the index to its lowest level since the survey began in 2011.

The financing situation has deteriorated significantly for all segments. The sub-indicator reflecting the assessment of the financing situation in the retail sector, which was already at a low level before the COVID-19 crisis, has fallen particularly sharply. In contrast, the situation for logistics properties is assessed less negatively. The reason for this is the increase in e-commerce in recent months. These are the key findings of the DIFI Report, a quarterly survey on the commercial real estate financing market in Germany carried out by ZEW in cooperation with JLL.