German property crisis worst in a generation
Vonovia CEO sees surge in real estate bankruptcies
CEO Buch 39;It is going to be bitter39;
Despite ECB rate cut, executives cautious on recovery

FRANKFURT, July 10 Reuters Germany39;s real estate industry, already in its third year of turmoil, faces more pain ahead as further companies go bust, the CEO of Germany39;s largest landlord warned.

The bleak assessment from Rolf Buch, the CEO of Vonovia and one of the nation39;s property titans, defies hopes for an imminent turnaround as the sector goes through its worst crisis in a generation.

We39;re going to see an extreme number of bankruptcies over the next few months, maybe over the next few years. We39;re already seeing them today, Buch told journalists on Tuesday.

It is going to be bitter.

For years, low interest rates and a strong economy sustained a boom across the German property sector, which broadly contributes 730 billion euros 789.64 billion a year to the nation39;s economy, or roughly a fifth of Germany39;s output.

That boom ended when rampant inflation forced the European Central Bank to swiftly raise borrowing costs. Realestate financing dried up, deals fizzled, projects stalled, major developers went bust, and some banks teetered.

The industry has called on Berlin to intervene.

Buch built Vonovia through a series of multibillioneuro takeovers, building up a debt mountain as the property crisis struck, forcing it to sell swathes of homes.

In its wake,…