The price multiple (Kaufpreisfaktor, also called Vervielfältiger in the market) is the price divided by the annual net rent: a store costing €9.25 million with a rent of €500,000 sells at 18.5 times annual rent. At the end of 2025 BNP Paribas Real Estate priced the best supermarkets and discounters at up to 18.5 times rent and core-plus stores at 15.5: three years' rent, or €1.5 million at that rent, less.
What it is
The multiple is the inverse of the gross initial yield: 20 times annual rent equals 5.0%, and 18.5 about 5.4%. It ignores the owner's non-recoverable costs, real estate transfer tax and other acquisition costs, so it shows the price, not the return on the money invested.
In the market, Vervielfältiger is a synonym for Kaufpreisfaktor, but in bank valuation the word means something else. In the Lending Value Ordinance (BelWertV), the Vervielfältiger is the factor that capitalises net income after all deductions (§ 12(1) BelWertV). It equals V = (qⁿ − 1) / (qⁿ · z), where z is the capitalisation rate, q = 1 + z and n the building's remaining economic life. When a bank quotes a multiple, ask which one it means.
Exhibit 1. Each step down in class takes three years' rent off a supermarket's price
Source: BNP Paribas Real Estate, end of 2025; multiples in years of annual rent; gross yield is our conversion.
Why it matters to investors
The multiple is the language in which the market prices risk. A core-plus store lacks at least one feature of the best: a long remaining lease term, a strong location or a first-tier tenant (see Part 12 of the series German Prime Retail). Paying a prime multiple for it at a rent of €500,000 means handing over €1.5 million for quality the store does not have. Multiples in all classes were unchanged in 2025, and BNP Paribas Real Estate thought it likely they would stay level in 2026.
A seller asking more than 18.5 owes an explanation. A store priced at 20 times rent is marketed "at 5.0%", and the figure looks like the market benchmark. But BNP Paribas Real Estate's 5.00% is a net initial yield, and it refers to stores that cost up to 18.5 times annual rent, not 20 (Part 10).
The multiple is blind to costs. Two stores on the same multiple can earn different money: every 10% of the rent that the landlord spends on non-recoverable costs takes 0.6 percentage points off a headline 6.0% (Part 7). Compare properties on net initial yield.
What to check
• The rent behind the multiple: the current net rent under the lease, or the rent expected after indexation.
• The lease signatory and the fixed remaining term without the tenant's options — and whether they justify a prime price.
• Non-recoverable costs and acquisition costs, to move from the multiple to the net initial yield.
• In talks with a bank, which Vervielfältiger is meant.
Sources: BNP Paribas Real Estate, German food-retail investment market report for Q4 2025 and retail investment market report for Q3 2026; BelWertV § 12(1); Gordon Real Estate Group, "German Prime Retail", Parts 7, 10 and 12. Data as of 10 October 2026.
Photo: Peter Herrmann / Unsplash
This entry is general information and not legal or tax advice.