25 November 2025, Amsterdam – INREV has launched the first-ever European Living Fund Index, providing more detailed performance data in response to continuing investor appetite for the sector.
The launch of the index reflects the significant expansion of investment activity into residential and student housing, over the past 25 years. Since 2001, the segment has grown from four funds with a total GAV of €5.0 billion to more than 50 funds more than €60.0 billion.
Over the past decade, the living sector has outperformed the wider INREV Pan-European Funds Index both on a short- and long-term basis, as well as other key sectors, such as retail and offices.
The Living Fund Index will be published quarterly. The first edition records performance for Q3 2025, based on a sample of 38 residential, and three student housing¹ funds with a combined GAV of €60.4 billion. The headline results are as follows:
- Total return: 1.80%
- Capital growth: 1.08%
- Distributed income return: 0.72%
- One-year average rolling return: 7.46%
- 10-year average rolling return: 8.84%
The new index captures 25 years of performance data focused on country-specific, pan-European and other multi-country funds. It covers a broad range of 12 living subindices, including residential, student housing, closed-end and open-end, as well as single country and a Pan-European series.
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. The segment has become more diverse, in terms of sub-segment and geography, in part due to the structural undersupply of housing and changing demographics, but also increased mobility, as well as the choice/need of different living arrangements across both older and younger generations.
“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.”
¹ Differences in composition due to one quarter lag in reporting by around 10-15 funds