Trevian Asset Management acted as a commercial advisor to an international investment management company in two transactions, including two significant portfolios of residential properties during Q3 2021. The purchased properties are located mainly in the Helsinki metropolitan area.  The transactions are a strong indication of the growing interest of European investors in Finnish residential real estate portfolios. Trevian strongly believes that the Finnish residential real estate development will increasingly need to attract more foreign investment capital to avoid a shortage of rental housing production.

The real estate portfolio transactions consisted of 528 rental apartments built by Finnish construction companies, all actively in rental use. The buyer is a European international investment management company for whom Trevian has acted as the local partner, market expert, and real estate investment advisor in several investments in Finland and other Nordic countries.

The Finnish housing market has been strongly growing since 2016. As a result, Finnish portfolios have started to attract interest, especially from foreign investors. Foreign investors that have recently entered the Finnish market have been mainly European fund management companies and institutional investors. To raise Finnish rental housing production to a level corresponding to future demand, Trevian aims to add international engagement and discussion to introduce more foreign investors to the market.

– Finland is a notable destination country for foreign residential real estate investors, as the Finnish rental market is highly transparent compared to many other countries. Housing is mainly rented through open online platforms, allowing transparency of the rent level and collecting historical data on its development. This creates predictability for the international investors about the development prospects of the entire portfolio. The Finnish residential real estate market needs foreign investments also to secure a sufficient level of rental housing production to avoid a shortage in the future, says Kim Särs, Trevian’s Business Director of Residential real estate.