Demographics make inroad in Germany's nascent market for equity release

Within the asset class real estate, it is hard to imagine that there are so-called blind spots in developed markets, such as the German speaking countries, notably Germany, says Henryk Seeger, managing director, GNIW. Still, when it comes to the market segment equity release for single family homes, it is an underdeveloped market offering huge upside potential: More than seven million Germans, aged 65 years and older, live in their homes. Overall, the number of Germans in this age-cohort, has risen over the last two decades from 12 million to 18.4 million persons, which corresponds to ab...