INREV rolls out European Living Fund Index

The inaugural INREV Living Fund Index reported a total return of 1.80% for European residential and student housing funds in Q3 2025.

Housing - INREV

Dutch funds focused on the living sector were the top performers among regional strategies, achieving a 2.40% return. For the fifth consecutive quarter, core investment strategies outperformed value-added strategies. Additionally, residential-focused funds continued to show better performance than student housing strategies.
This new index from INREV, which is the first of its kind for European living funds, was launched to provide more detailed performance insights due to sustained investor interest in the sector. Over the past 25 years, investment in residential and student housing has significantly expanded, growing from four funds with a €5.0 bn Gross Asset Value (GAV) in 2001 to over 50 funds with a GAV exceeding €60.0 bn today.
Over the last decade, the living sector has consistently outperformed both the broader INREV Pan-European Funds Index and other major sectors like retail and offices, in both the short and long term.
The initial Q3 2025 index results are based on 38 residential funds and 3 student housing funds, totalling €60.4 bn in GAV. Key figures include a total return of 1.80%, with 1.08% from capital growth and 0.72% from distributed income. The one-year average rolling return stood at 7.46%, while the 10-year average rolling return was 8.84%.
The index offers a comprehensive historical view, covering 25 years of performance data across 12 living sub-indices, including residential, student housing, closed-end and open-end structures, as well as single-country and Pan-European strategies.
Iryna Pylypchuk, director of Research and Market Information at INREV, said: “The last decade demonstrates the evolution and the rightful place of the European living sector in institutional investors’ portfolios. All indications are that institutional investor demand is set to continue apace. That makes the launch of the new pan-European Living Index timely and highly relevant. The depth and richness of the data will provide investors with greater transparency and insight into the sector. As it evolves, we aim to continue to grow the number of bespoke subindices, such as senior housing or student housing and across markets to help drive deeper insights and better-informed investment decisions.”