At €150 billion, Germany's real estate refinancing crunch has plenty further to run

When around 130 real estate finance professionals gathered in Berlin on 23 April for the Real Asset Finance & Debt Summit — organised by BF.direkt, IREBS and RUECKERCONSULT — the mood was sober but engaged. The conference, which began a decade ago in Frankfurt before relocating to Berlin, has evolved steadily alongside the market it serves. This year's expanded programme, covering debt, infrastructure and defence financing alongside traditional real estate topics, reflected just how much the landscape has shifted.

Nowhere was that shift more starkly framed than in the panel discussion entitled "Restructurers: White Knights or Vultures?" — a title that René Doeubler of Drees & Sommer had deliberately leaned into during his warm-up presentation, projecting an image of the Leichenfledderer before promising, with a wry smile, that a more constructive message would follow. It did. But only just.