Berlin Hyp said improved conditions in the real estate market led to a 36% rise in new lending in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period last year. The German property lender, which works it partnership with its parent company Landesbank Berlin (LBB), contracted EUR 732 mln of new business, without extensions, from January to end-March this year, far in excess of the EUR 468 mln of new business in Q1 2010.

Loans to investors accounted for 68% of new business in Q1 this year when Berlin Hyp recoded a pre-tax profit of EUR 18.5 mln.

Berlin Hyp board member Gero Bergmann: 'Together with LBB we are one of the leading providers of real estate finance in Germany and will use the market opportunities currently open to us to further develop our strong position.'

But Bergmann said the current public debt crisis made it difficult to give a forecast for the entire year. 'Provided that the framework conditions remain stable, we are, however, confident of being able to further increase our market share while retaining our risk-oriented strategy,' Bergmann added.