Officially the Federal Republic of Germany is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The territory of Germany covers 357,021 square kilometers (137,847 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 82 million inhabitants, it accounts for the largest population among the member states of the European Union and is home to the third-largest number of international migrants worldwide.

Germany is the powerhouse of Europe and strategically placed between Western and Eastern Europe and in prime position and location to do business with all of Europe.Germany is the number one economy in Europe and is the powerhouse behind the Euro. One of the major reasons Germany is the number one economy is because of its diverse nature and the fact it doesn’t have an over reliance on property. Germany is the largest national economy in Europe, the fourth largest by nominal GDP in the world, and ranked fifth by GDP (PPP) in 2008. Since the age of industrialization, the country has been a driver, innovator, and beneficiary of an ever more globalised economy. Germany is the world's top exporter with $1.133 trillion exported in 2006 (Euro zone countries are included) and generates a trade surplus of €165 billion. The service sector contributes around 70% of the total GDP, industry 29.1%, and agriculture 0.9%. Most of the country's products are in engineering, especially in automobiles, machinery, metals, and chemical goods.  

Germany is the leading producer of wind turbines and solar power technology in the world. The largest annual international trade fairs and congresses are held in several German cities such as Hanover, Frankfurt, and Berlin.With its central position in Europe, Germany is an important transportation hub. This is reflected in its dense and modern transportation networks. The extensive motorway (Autobahn) network that ranks worldwide third largest in its total length and features a lack of blanket speed limits on the majority of routes^.. Germany has established a polycentric network of high-speed trains. The InterCityExpress or ICE is the most advanced service category of the Deutsche Bahn and serves major German cities as well as destinations in neighboring countries. The train maximum speed varies between 160 km/h and 300 km/h. Connections are offered at either 30-minute, hourly, or two-hourly intervals. Germany is the world's fifth largest consumer of energy, and two-thirds of its primary energy was imported in 2002. In the same year, Germany was Europe's largest consumer of electricity, totaling 512.9 terawatt-hours. Government policy promotes energy conservation and the development of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy. As a result of energy-saving measures, energy efficiency has been improving since the beginning of the 1970s. The government has set the goal of meeting half the country's energy demands from renewable sources by 2050.In 2000, the government and the German nuclear power industry agreed to phase out all nuclear power plants by 2021. Renewable energy still plays a more modest role in energy consumption. In 2006, energy consumption was met by the following sources: oil (35.7%); coal, including lignite (23.9%); natural gas (22.8%); nuclear (12.6%); hydro and wind power (1.3%); and other (3.7%). However, the share of renewable energy in electricity supply has been rapidly increasing, reaching 14% in 2007. The German government has set a new target to increase this share to 27% by 2020.

Germany property market is a very strong market but because it’s a relatively small part of a huge economy it tends to be overlooked for more sexy locations such as Spain or Brazil or Western Europe cities such as Paris and London. However with investment property showing yields in excess of 8% one needs to take a closer look.

International Hot property has Identified and researched property in Germany and has targeted excellent residential Investment property opportunities with properties that can be bought. You can buy property in Germany’s major cities and get a yield of 8% and sometimes 10% – at a time when borrowing costs in Europe are around 4%. German property is not just cheap relative to property elsewhere in Europe; it is also cheap in absolute terms. All this and you are investing in Europe’s number one economy and you only have to look a the diverse nature of its economy to know its one of the best investments you are likely to make

WHY INVEST IN GERMANY PROPERTY?

The climate unlike some of the more exotic overseas investment opportunities has absolutely no bearing on why you would choose to invest in German property but factors such as location and Investment fundaments such as 8% or more yields would be much more of a reason to do so

GERMANY PROPERTY – ECONOMY 

A major reason to invest in German property is that you are investing in Europe’s number one economy and fourth in the world. Germany is the world's top exporter with $1.133 trillion exported in 2006 and generates a trade surplus of €165 billion. With major worldwide corporations and worldwide brand names all contributing to Europe’s number one economy Germany will always be Europe’s number one economy

GERMANY PROPERTY – TOURISM

As with the climate this is not a major factor to invest in German property as it would be in a country like Brazil or Cape Verde. It is the strength of the Germany economy and the yields of the property investments that are the reasons to invest in Germany property.

GERMANY– PROPERTY MARKET 

Germany, as analysts at Merrill Lynch point out, “has conspicuously failed to join in the global housing boom of the last ten years. It’s one of the most depressed housing markets in the world. Germany has the lowest level of home ownership – 44%, according to Merrill Lynch – in the industrialised world and prices have stagnated or fallen for the last decade (in the year to the end of the first quarter of 2005, they fell 1.3%). The result is that they have fallen sharply relative to rents and incomes – since 1980, German housing affordability has improved more than in any other industrialised country. Much of Germany’s housing stock has long been owned by corporations and regional and central government. But faced with pressure to cut their costs, these groups have started to sell down their holdings. And guess who’s been buying. Not the occupants, but large-scale foreign investors “attracted by low prices and respectable yields”, says Merrill Lynch. In 2001, Nomura bought 64,000 homes from Deutsche Bahn, the German railway firm. Last year, a US private-equity firm, Fortress, bought 80,000 flats from the state pension’s administrator and Morgan Stanley picked up 48,000 flats from industrial group ThyssenKrupp. In May, UK private-equity firm Terra Firma got in on the game with an e7bn purchase of 150,000 flats from German utility firm Eon.    

Looking to buy a property in Germany ?