City and Land: Real estate prices continue to rise

Houses and apartments in Germany are becoming increasingly expensive - both in the metropolitan areas and in the countryside. In the second quarter of 2019, residential property prices were on average 5.2% higher than in the same period of the previous year, as calculated by the Federal Statistical Office.

Prices were particularly strong in the seven largest cities in the republic. In Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart and Dusseldorf, one- and two-family houses increased in price within a year by ten percent, for condominiums buyers had to pay 8.6 percent more.

But real estate prices also increased in sparsely populated rural districts, where condominiums and houses on average rose by 4.2 percent each.

Historically low interest rates have been fueling demand for houses and apartments for quite some time. That drives up prices. A turnaround is not in sight because the European Central Bank is holding on to its negative interest rates due to the expected weak economic situation.

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