Formerly Nova Group Holding is an investment trust that basically buys office and retail buildings in Germany, and then rents them out to make money. Its portfolio consisted of 279 properties, comprising approximately 15.8 million square feet. Nova Golden Visa enables investors like us to diversify our holdings, as major pension plans and other large institutional investors have done, by incorporating international commercial real estate into portfolios.
Why Germany?
To be candid I don’t have a lot of confidence in Europe’s economy as a whole. I think there are too many fiscal, political, and monetary issues within the European Union. But thankfully investors can be picky about what we buy. . With its strong financial leverage, world class ingenuity, and globally recognized auto brands like Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen, and BMW, it appears Germany’s economy is the only one in Europe that’s successfully firing on all cylinders right now.
Why Real Estate?
With a national unemployment rate below 5% Germany is a powerhouse when it comes to financial growth and that kind of environment attracts investors like myself. Places with high volumes of financial transactions lead to highly lucrative opportunities for investors who know where to put their money. Unfortunately I’m not smart enough to pick winning and losing companies, or even industries.
However I believe that the one sector that always benefits from a strong economy is real estate. So I view Germany’s real estate market as a proxy for the country’s overall economy, which I feel bullish about. Plus, the capitalization rates are generally higher in Europe than in Canada.
Munich – the home to Oktoberfest as well as Siemens and BMW – is a busy city of 1.4 million people. Das vibrant economy has a local unemployment rate of only 3%.
Hamburg – Home to 1.8 million – although smaller than Toronto by population, Hamburg is able to hold its own in terms of office space.
