Nordic Property News meets Kai Keituri at Newsec Penthouse at Mipim.

He has several meetings booked during the week with international investors that are interested in Finland.

Last year the transaction volume on the Finnish real estate marked increased from €2,3 billion to €4.3 billion.

“We saw a rather large increase in international investments during 2014 and the trend has continued. The investors are for example Swedish real estate companies like Redito, Hemsö and Balder, but also German  investors. We also saw an increased interest from the UK” says Kai Keituri.

“The Finnish macro economic figures are not the best in Europe, but they do not give you the whole picture. For example, the industry’s order books are now being filled once again and companies' confidence towards future has risen. Finland is favoured by the lower oil prices and the strong US-dollar, since Finland is an export dependent country.”

Kai Keituri points out that Finland has an advantage compared to Sweden and Norway in regards to the currency.

“Since we have the euro, international investors using euro are not in need of currency hedging. That means perhaps 50-100 basic points. The yields are also notably lower in Helsinki for example, compared to Stockholm and Oslo, and that difference perhaps gains 100 points as well. If you move outside of Helsinki’s CBD a little, you may find yield levels at 6-6.5 percent.”

According to Kai Keituri, it is mainly Great Helsinki that draws the most interest from international investors.

“But there is also great interest in regards to retail in good locations across the country”.

Kai Keituri detects a trend where the large pension funds and insurance companies - like Varma, Ilmarinen and Elo - that earlier dominated the Finnish market, are now looking abroad, but aloso selectively investing in Finland.

“They are growing in the other Nordic countries, but also in the UK and France.”