Extending The Index Time Series: The Performance Of The German Property Market From 1989 Through 2005

Property performance indices are a key analytical tool for the understanding and quantitative analysis of property markets. Through the expansion of the Investment Property Databank they now exist for a wide range of countries, enabling practitioners and researchers to perform comparative analyses as well as in depth studies of single markets based on real property performance data. The German Property Index was established in 1996. Now reaching a ten year time series the original index is still in a beginning stage relative to indices for other major property markets, such as the UK. This paper introduces a new time series from 1989 through 1995 for different use types, extending the German Property Index to a full property cycle from 1989 through 2005. The additional time series, like the original index, comprises of appraisal-based annual performance data from institutional property investors. The index now also provides useful insight into the performance of property investments during the initial upturn of the German economy following reunification.