When Vonovia acquires properties, whether through a business combination or as part of a separate transaction, the intended use determines whether such properties are classified as investment properties or as owner-occupied properties.

Investment properties are properties that are held for the purpose of earning rental income or for capital appreciation or both and are not owner-occupied or held for sale in the ordinary course of business. Investment properties include undeveloped land, land and land rights including buildings and land with hereditary building rights of third parties. Investment properties also include right-of-use assets from rented, developed and undeveloped land (hereditary building rights) and from rented residential and commercial properties (interim leasing) within the meaning of IFRS 16 that are classified as investment properties.

Investment properties are initially measured at cost. Related transaction costs, such as fees  for legal services or real estate transfer taxes, are included in the initial measurement. If properties are purchased as part of a business combination and if the transaction relates to a “business,” then IFRS 3 applies as far as recognition is concerned. Transaction costs are recognized as an expense.

Following initial recognition, investment properties are measured at fair value. Any change therein is recognized as affecting net income in the income statement. If, during the land or project development phase, reliable measurement at fair value is not possible due to the lack of marketability and the lack of comparable transactions, recognition is at acquisition cost. In such cases, the cost model is continued until a reliable measurement can be carried out, but at the latest until the property in question is completed.

Investment properties are transferred to property, plant and equipment when there is a change in use evidenced by the commencement of owner-occupation. The properties’ deemed cost for subsequent measurement corresponds to the fair value at the date of reclassification.

The fair values of the portfolio of residential properties were determined on the basis of the International Valuation Standard Committee’s definition of market value. Portfolio premiums and discounts, which can be observed when portfolios are sold in market transactions, were not included. Nor were time restrictions in the marketing of individual properties. Vonovia determines fair value in accordance with the requirements of IAS 40 in conjunction with IFRS 13.

Vonovia, in principle, measures its portfolio on the basis of the discounted cash flow (DCF) method. Under the DCF methodology, the expected future income and costs of a property are forecast over a detailed period of ten years and discounted to the date of valuation as the net present value. Due to the particular market situation in Austria and in order to reflect the extensive Austrian rent restrictions, a sales scenario involving the recurring sales of apartments is assumed for a subportfolio. In order to present these sales in the correct accounting period, the detailed period for the Austrian DCF model has been extended to 100 years.

The income in the DCF model mainly comprises expected rental income (current net rent excl. ancillary costs, current incl. rent in Sweden, market rents as well as their development) taking vacancy losses and also sales revenues for an Austrian subportfolio into account. The expected rental income is derived for each location from the latest rent indices and rent tables (including Value AG, IVD, the Austrian Economic Chambers [WKÖ]) as well as from studies on spatial prosperity (Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development [BBSR], Prognos, Value AG, the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, the Austrian statistical office, Statistik Austria, etc.). In Sweden, rents and rent increases are defined as part of negotiations with the Swedish tenants’ association (“Hyresgästföreningen”) and are reflected accordingly in the valuation model. The expected sales revenues in Austria are derived from historical sale prices as well as market data (e.g.,  WKÖ, EHL).

On the cost side, maintenance expenses and administrative costs are taken into account. In Germany, these are taken into account in accordance with the II. Berechnungsverordnung. The II. Berechnungsverordnung (BV) is the German Regulation on Calculations for Residential Buildings in accordance with the Second Housing Construction Law, which stipulates how economic viability calculations for homes are to be performed. These cost approaches are also transferred to the Austrian market. Further cost items are, for example, ground rents, non-allocable ancillary costs, rent losses and, in Austria, selling costs. In the Swedish valuation model, further expenses to be borne by the owner are also taken into account in the DCF model due to the inclusive rents that are a special feature of this market. All cost items are inflated in the reporting period. Modernization measures carried out in the housing stocks are factored in by decreasing the current maintenance expenses and adjusting market rents.

On this basis, the forecast cash flows are calculated on an annual basis and discounted to the date of valuation as the net present value. Furthermore, the terminal value of the property at the end of the ten-year period is determined using the expected stabilized net operating income and again discounted to the date of valuation as the net present value. The discount rate applied reflects the market situation, location, type of property, special property features (e.g., hereditary building rights, rent restrictions), the yield expectations of a potential investor and the risk associated with the forecast future cash flows of the property. The present value calculated in this way is reconciled to the market value by deducting standard market transaction costs, such as real estate transfer taxes, agent and notary costs. As the detailed period in the Austrian DCF model has been extended to 100 years in order to present the sales scenarios in the correct accounting period, no terminal value is applied here.

The commercial properties in the portfolio are mainly small commercial units for the supply of the local residential environment. Different cost approaches are used to those for residential properties, and discount rates were adjusted to reflect the market specifics. 

The valuation is, in principle, performed on the basis of homogeneous valuation units. These meet the criteria of economically cohesive and comparable land and buildings. They include:

• Geographical location (identity of the microlocation and geographical proximity)
• Comparable types of use, building class, construction year class and condition of property
• Same property features such as rent restrictions, hereditary building rights and full or part ownership

The Vonovia portfolio also contains project developments, existing areas with construction potential and land areas with inheritable building rights granted, as well as nursing care facilities. Project developments for subsequent management within its own portfolio are measured using the cost approach until the construction work is complete – subject to a review of the values applied if triggering events occur. Once the construction work is complete, measurement is at fair value using the DCF procedure described above. Existing areas with construction potential are valued using a comparable method on the basis of the local standard land value evaluated. Deductions are taken into account in particular for the readiness for construction and potential use as well as for likelihood of development and the development situation. Inheritable building rights granted are valued in the same way as the property portfolio using a DCF method. The input parameters here are the duration and amount of ground rent and the value of the land. The right-of-use assets from leasehold contracts are recognized at their fair value. The fair value of the leasehold contracts corresponds to the present value of the standard market leasehold fee payments up until the end of the term of the hereditary building right in question. These are calculated based on the current amount of the ground rent. In order to calculate the present value, the leasehold fee payments are discounted using a property-specific interest rate.

Vonovia determines the fair values of its real estate portfolio in Germany, Sweden and Austria in its in-house valuation department on the basis of the methodology described above.