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In the fourth quarter of 2025, the Dutch retail investment market clearly accelerated. According to figures from Cushman & Wakefield, investment volume in retail real estate amounted to nearly €400 million, significantly higher than the €268 million recorded in Q4 2024. This brings the cumulative volume for 2025 to approximately €1.3 billion, well above 2024 (€828 million) and also higher than 2023 (€1.0 billion). Annual volume was supported by a number of larger transactions, complemented by a broad range of smaller acquisitions and disposals.

Investment activity in Q4 focused mainly on larger shopping centres and inner-city high-street assets. The largest transaction involved the sale of Sterrenburg shopping centre in Dordrecht by Wereldhave to a fund managed by Pertinea for approximately €60 million. In addition, De Roselaar shopping centre in Roosendaal was sold for around €40 million. Due to its secondary location, this asset traded at a relatively high initial yield, underlining the degree of risk differentiation within retail real estate. High-street retail in the major cities also contributed to investment volumes, with transactions of €31.6 million at Binnenwegplein in Rotterdam and €23.1 million in Kalverstraat in Amsterdam.

Activity in the smaller segment (up to approximately €5 million) remained high as well, mainly driven by family offices and private investors. While limited in volume, these transactions support liquidity and price discovery.

At the same time, the structural divide between strong and weaker locations continues to deepen. Analyses of shopping streets by advisor CBRE show that A1 locations in cities such as Amsterdam and Eindhoven rank among the best-performing retail areas, characterised by low vacancy rates, a concentration of strong retail brands and a prominent role for flagship stores. In contrast, performance in medium-sized cities and secondary areas is mixed to weak. Figures from Locatus indicate that national retail vacancy increased from approximately 6.7% to nearly 7.0% in 2025. In particular, re-letting remains challenging at the edges of prime shopping areas and in large-scale retail clusters, where value pressure persists for longer.

This polarisation is also reflected in footfall patterns. The annual analysis by RMC, based on sensor measurements in nearly one hundred shopping streets and centres, shows that nationwide pedestrian counts increased by around 3% in 2025. Growth was strongly concentrated in the major cities, where footfall rose by approximately 10%. In medium-sized cities, the picture remained broadly stable, while smaller cities saw only limited growth. The Footfall Trend Report 2025 by PFM Intelligence Group adds an important nuance: growth in pedestrian flows does not translate one-toone into growth in actual shoppers. Nationwide, total visitor numbers increased by 0.8%, while retail-related visits declined slightly. This effect is most pronounced in the major cities: more people in city centres, but a smaller share visiting primarily to shop. City centres are increasingly evolving into multifunctional leisure destinations, while neighbourhood shopping centres benefit from more purpose-driven shopping behaviour, with growth in shopping visitors of approximately 2.5% to 2.6%.