German property lenders are forecasting a slight revival in real-estate financing this year after a sharp slowdown in 2023 amid the most severe property crisis in decades, according to the VDP banking association on Wednesday.

Credit for the construction and purchase of residential and commercial real estate tanked 31% in 2023 from 2022, VDP said, but the final three months of 2023 revealed a 5.2% increase in lending from the same period a year earlier.

This "suggests that the financing business is beginning to stabilize," said VDP's chief executive Jens Tolckmitt.

"We expect new real estate financing business to pick up slightly in the current year."

(Reporting by Tom Sims, Editing by Rachel More)