DIFI Report by ZEW and JLL Released – Finance Index Continues to Fall
ResearchIn the fourth quarter of 2016, the German Real Estate Finance Index (DIFI) has dropped by 2.3 points to a current reading of 4.4 points. The index has thereby recorded its lowest value in four years. This marks the continuation of a downward trend which has been going on since the beginning of 2015. The reason for this development can be found in the pessimistic expectations concerning the financing conditions in the coming six months. On average, the difference between the positive and negative assessments for all types of real estates has declined by 5.7 points to a level of -7.7 points.
These are the key findings of the DIFI Report, a quarterly survey on the real estate financing market in Germany carried out by ZEW in cooperation with JLL.
The German Real Estate Finance Index (DIFI)
The German Real Estate Finance Index (DIFI) reflects the situation (including the previous six months) and expectations of the participants in the survey concerning the real estate financing market on a six-month horizon. It is conducted on a quarterly basis and calculated as the average value of the balances in the following four segments: office, retail, logistics and residential properties. The balances of the segments reflect the difference between the percentage of participants who are optimistic and the percentage of participants who are pessimistic about the development of financing conditions on the German real estate market. The DIFI is a survey conducted and published by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW). 48 experts participated in the October/November 2016 survey.
