Colliers Denmark Market Report 2024

28

OFFICE - COLLIERS MARKET REPORT 2024

No active foreign investors in 2023

With a 2023 characterised by uncertainty and a transac tion drought, it can be difficult to map where the office investment property market is at and where it is headed. In November 2023, in Copenhagen, AP Pension acquired Codanhus in the district of Frederiksberg and Kalvebod Brygge 32 in the district of Vesterbro for a total of approx. DKK 2.5 billion, but until then, the year had only seen a few major transactions with office properties - and no transactions with properties above DKK 200 million. This is evidence of a market where investors are very cautious and reluctant, and where sellers who do not have to sell prefer to wait for better times before selling high-volume properties. Foreign investors in particular have been inactive. This may be because some of the foreign capital is managed by asset managers based in the UK and the US, both of which have high office vacancy rates. This may make

investors from these countries cautious about invest ing in a segment that is struggling at home. In addition, Swedish property companies and German institutional investors and asset managers, who have bought a num ber of core-categorised office properties in Denmark in recent years, may also be challenged by the current mar ket situation. The office transactions we have seen with an invest ment volume of over DKK 100 million have all been with domestic buyers, which further emphasises how reluc tant foreign investors are. AP Pension’s acquisition of Codanhus and Kalvebod Brygge 32 is a clear indication that the market has shifted and that major transactions can easily take place when there is a realistic seller and a buyer who dares to act when the opportunity arises.

In the rest of the Nordic region, we see a similar situation. The number of deals with office properties above DKK

Property companies waiting on the sidelines in 2023

2021

2022

2023

16 %

19 %

23 %

26 %

40 %

40 %

55 %

53 %

20 %

Property fund

Institutional investor

Other

Property company

Note: Breakdown of office transactions with a volume in excess of DKK 500 million in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, by investor type. Source: RCA, Colliers