MR 2018

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Copenhagen Property Market Report 2018

Surge in foreign investor demand

VIDEO Aarhus

2017 saw strong demand from abroad, with international investors acquiring more than DKK 2bn worth of property in the Aarhus residential market. Aarhus is a centre for growth, in 2016 outranking all other Danish cities in terms of net migration. As an important university city, Aarhus attracts a high proportion of young residents. This is reflected in the city’s demographic composition and housing demand.

In 2017, transaction activity was not concentrated only in Copenhagen, the year also saw multiple high-volume investments in other parts of Denmark, most notably in Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city. In Aarhus, both domestic and foreign investors have shown a particularly strong appetite for residential property. Because of the strong investor focus on this segment, we have included a brief introduction to the Aarhus investment property market with an emphasis on residentials. Aarhus University: Catalyst for development The City of Aarhus is Denmark’s second-largest municipality with approximately 340,000 inhabitants, some 270,000 of whom reside in Aarhus proper. Aarhus is known foremost as a university city, with Aarhus University outranking all other Danish universities in terms of student uptake in 2017. Extending to more than 400,000 sqm space, the university campus enjoys a central Aarhus location, housing virtually all university faculties as well as large-scale public grounds. Aarhus University has already secured room for expansion by taking over a neighbouring property of more than 100,000 sqm. Along with the city’s many other educational institutions, Aarhus University serves as a catalyst for the city’s development, every year drawing in thousands of new students, both fostering and retaining a highly educated pool of labour. Students drive strong population growth In recent years, the City of Aarhus has seen a surge in population growth in the order of some 5,000 new residents annually. As illustrated in the migration map on p. 85, Aarhus attracts newcomers from the entire western part of the country, with Aarhus in fact outperforming Copenhagen in terms of domestic net migration, driven predominantly by educational institutions. With a student population ratio of about 15%, Aarhus stands out as a remarkably young city with a strong overrepresentation of 20-29-year-olds compared with Denmark in general.