Aareal Award of Excellence in Real Estate Research awarded for the fifth time

Wiesbaden (ots) - The Real Estate Management Institute (EBS REMI)
of the EBS Business School and Aareal Bank AG have granted for the
fifth time the Aareal Award of Excellence in Real Estate Research for
academically-outstanding research work in real estate economics. A
total of approximately 50 papers for this annual research prize were
submitted this year. About half the applications came from abroad and
especially from North America and Asia. The price is worth 12,000
Euro. The award ceremony took place today on the Schloss
Reichartshausen campus in Oestrich-Winkel at the 13th EBS Real Estate
Congress.

The jury is as international as the applicants. Just under 30
experts, principally professors in the national and international
REMI research network, assessed the work on this year's topics in the
three categories: Dissertation, Research Paper, MSc-/BSc-/Diploma
Thesis. This year's topics were Real Estate Finance, Real Estate
Investment Vehicles and Residential. The winners received their prize
money and awards from the initiators: Professor Nico B. Rottke, EBS
REMI, Dr Wolf Schumacher, Aareal Bank AG and Elke Rudolph, Immobilien
Manager Verlag.

The winners are:

Dr. Alexander Reichardt, EBS Real Estate Management Institute of
the EBS Business School, Wiesbaden, in the category of
Dissertation/Ph.D for his work "Sustainability in Commercial Real
Estate Markets".

Dr. Martin Wersing, TU Technische Universität Berlin, Institut für
Volkswirtschafts¬lehre und Wirtschaftsrecht, Berlin, in the category
of Research Paper for his work: "Renting versus Owning and the Role
of Human Capital: Evidence from Germany".

Norman Ebner, St. Edmund's College, University of Oxford, England,
in the category of MSc-/BSc-/Diploma Thesis for his work: "Market
Timing & Target Leverage of the U.S. REITs".

Professor Nico B. Rottke, head of the EBS Real Estate Management
Institute, said: "This international Aareal Award has become a
fixture as an academic prize in real estate economics research in the
last five years. An international independent jury selects the best
submission. We are happy to see that both work of methodological
excellence and exciting submissions had the chance of winning this
year."

REMI pursues an international, interdisciplinary and hands-on
approach. The aim is the ongoing development and assurance of the
profitability of the property sector. "The property industry is
well-set for the future, as it has a mixture of academic and hands-on
expertise at the international level. A good example of REMI's
leading role is the selection of topics for this year's Aareal Award:
for the first time, a topic related to residential property was set.
This is a subject which scholars have been neglecting so far in
favour of commercial property. But residential properties are of more
and more interest to the investment allocation of institutional
investors" said Dr Wolf Schumacher, chairman of the Management Board
at Aareal Bank. He added that Aareal Bank had been working both in
commercial and residential property financing for more than 50 years
and so knew about the special importance of researching this area in
a scholarly and hands-on way.

Aareal Award 2013 and further information

Submissions can be lodged for the Aareal Award of Excellence in
Real Estate Research 2013 until 16 November 2012. The topics set this
year are: International Real Estate Research, Real Estate Finance and
Real Estate Management. The conditions of entry are at
www.aareal-award.com. The prizes will be awarded on 22 February 2013.

(To editors: photos of the award ceremony are available on
request)

Aareal Bank

Aareal Bank AG is one of the leading international specialist
property banks. The Aareal Bank share is included in Deutsche Börse's
mid-cap MDAX index. Aareal Bank operates on three continents:
leveraging its successful European business model, the bank has
established similar platforms in North America and in the
Asia-Pacific region. It provides property financing solutions in more
than 20 countries.

Real Estate Management Institute

The Real Estate Management Institute (EBS REMI) of the EBS
Business School is one of Germany's leading providers of training,
continuing education and research in the field of real estate
economics. With its commitment to excellence, free enterprise and
internationalism in research, REMI offers curricula in the theory of
real estate economics with a focus on the real estate transaction
(investment, financing and valuation). These are complemented by the
interdisciplinary fields of law, tax and economics.

Contact:
Aareal Bank AG
Corporate Communications

Sven Korndörffer
phone: +49 611 348 2306
sven.korndoerffer@aareal-bank.com

Christian Feldbrügge
phone: +49 611 348 2280
christian.feldbruegge@aareal-bank.com