In mid-October more than 1,400 exhibitors transformed the exhibition halls of Messe München into an image of the real estate universe for Expo Real.
The exhibitors’ stands were seen by 18,000 visitors from 60 countries. After Germany, the top
10 countries of origin for visitors were the UK, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the
Czech Republic, France, the US, Poland, Russia and Italy.
A conference programme featured more than
100 events, one of which, on building an international unlisted property portfolio, was co-hosted by IPE Real Estate and INREV.
The panel featured Lisette van Doorn, INREV chief executive; Bernhard Berg, property chief executive at AMB Generali; Rodney Bish, director of property business development at Henderson Investors and Dr Mattias Sturmer, head of real estate investment at German utility group E.ON Energie.
A number of research papers were released at the show, including one from German fund manager and investor DIFA (see page 6). This was a pan-European survey of real-estate investors entitled “Investment Culture in Europe”. DIFA board member Ingo Hartlief said the investment community needed “more transparency, international standards and fair competition”.
Participants from central and eastern Europe reported a strong interest in their regions and there were government delegations from emerging nations such as Serbia and Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
There was strong interest in German regions from delegates from the UK, the US, Scandinavia and the Netherlands.
A series of awards programmes were held at the event, including the first European Property Awards. These recognised the industry’s leading players across 12 categories. IVG Immobilien chairman Eckart John von Freyand was nominated German real estate personality of the year, and AXA REIM’s Paul Marcuse was voted European property personality of the year.
This was the eighth Expo Real and the event was blessed with glorious autumn sunshine which delegates enjoyed with a glass of lager in the open squares between the halls.
Next year’s event promises to be even larger and will be held from 23-25 October 2006.

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