An open-ended property fund is held in the securities account. Its displayed value is intended to form part of the equity for the planned house purchase. However, the purchase price will be needed soon. Before you count on this sum, you must understand two different routes: redemption to the fund management company and a possible sale via the stock exchange. This article considers the described German framework, not Austrian fund rules.
First determine the exact holdings
Our practical recommendation: note the fund identifier, the actually held units and the acquisition dates. With a savings plan not all units necessarily originate from the same month. Ask the account-holding institution for a comprehensible allocation, rather than simply taking the current total value from the overview.
Also check whether it is actually an open-ended property fund in the described sense. a property share (Immobilienaktie), a closed-end participation and an open-ended property special fund (offenes Immobilien-Sondervermögen) do not follow the same redemption route merely because they share the word “property”. For an old holding transitional rules can be important.
Redemption: holding period and declaration serve different purposes
§ 255 KAGB describes a minimum holding period of 24 months and a redemption period of twelve months with an irrevocable declaration of redemption. Fund terms and conditions can provide redemption dates. [FRIST] BaFin explains in particular the additional twelve-month period for units acquired after 21 July 2013. [BAFIN]
Therefore you must not automatically assume you can access the money after two years, nor generally deduce a three-year waiting time from every investment. What matters is the appropriate combination of the actual holding period, the declaration and the redemption date. Have the process intended for your holding confirmed before making a binding purchase plan.
A hypothetical purchase plan that accesses the account too early
In the fabricated example Maren acquired the relevant units in January 2024. In October 2026 she wants to earmark money for a house purchase planned for the following March. Although the minimum holding period would already have elapsed, a regular redemption declaration made only now does not by itself provide her with the money in five months.
Maren asks about the actual redemption route and considers an alternative financing plan. She does not treat the current unit value as a confirmed receipt of funds in March. The example shows only the timing gap; it is not a personal redemption confirmation or a calculation of a future payout price.
A sale on the stock exchange is a different economic transaction
BaFin explains that many, but not all, open-ended property funds are tradable on the stock exchange. Stock exchange prices can differ significantly from the issue and redemption prices of the company. The later redemption price is also not yet fixed when the declaration of redemption is submitted. [BAFIN]
Our editorial recommendation: compare the actually possible proceeds after incurred costs and not merely various screen values. An indicative price display is not yet an executed sale in the desired quantity. Also clarify what disposals of units already registered for redemption are still possible.
There is no general recommendation here to sell immediately on the stock exchange or to wait for redemption as a rule. This decision depends on your financing needs, the actual market supply and the specific contractual terms. An apparent discount must be weighed against a genuinely bearable alternative.
An elapsed period does not remove every liquidity risk
§ 257 KAGB provides for a suspension of redemption under the stated liquidity conditions. [AUSSETZUNG] The mere fulfilment of a regular period is therefore not a general guarantee that a fund unit will convert into purchase money at any later desired point without problems.
Check current fund notices and terms and clarify known restrictions with the responsible institution. This article neither decides a specific suspension case nor all transitional and liquidity instruments. For your own planning, money whose timely receipt or amount is unclear remains an open financing source.
In the end your house purchase needs a sound equity plan with a confirmed route and a realistic amount. The fund decision should be aligned to that, rather than treating a long-term asset at the last minute like ordinary available account balances.