Whether in the city or in the country - where average earners can afford an apartment

Created: 07/15/2022, 17:11

By: Stella Henrich

When you start your career, you often think about buying a condominium.

Depending on the region, the prices for a property vary enormously.

Above all in rural areas, the prices are still affordable without being overburdened.

Munich - There are many paths to happiness.

One buys a condominium, the other saves the money and prefers to go on vacation several times a year.

Ok, there should also be people who are satisfied with less to feel happy.

But let's be honest: it's a good idea to buy an apartment at a young age in order to be able to live in your own home rent-free when you retire.

But is it still worth buying at the current prices for real estate?

Because the prices for residential real estate have risen to a record level in the past year.

Owning your own property: Munich is prohibitively expensive

An average single person lives in 68 square meters these days.

reports that anyone who wants to buy these without falling into financial difficulties can buy them in around 70 percent of German cities and districts

.

For a condominium in Munich, that means an investment of around 734,000 euros.

No small thing for 68 square meters of living space.

Extrapolated over a period of 40 years with applicable interest rates, the monthly rate is 2063.20 euros.

So far so bad and for a person who is just starting their professional life, actually priceless.

Happy faces when the keys for the new condominium are handed over.

(Iconic image) © Thomas Trutschel/imago

If you consider that this monthly rate is just under the average earnings of an employee with a full-time job.

According to the Institute of German Economics, this is estimated at around 2421 euros net.

Who would seriously want to buy a condo when the monthly salary is largely eaten up by a mortgage?

But does this arithmetic example speak against the purchase of a property?

Owning your own property: Around 730 euros are enough for rural regions

If you calculate with an amount of around 730 euros per month, the opportunity to purchase a property without overburdening yourself looks much more lucrative.

For this sum, people with average earnings could afford a 70 square meter condominium in this country - even in most regions, reports

.

Most matching regions are in the countryside.

In 219 of 294 districts, around 730 euros a month are sufficient.

If you want to live in the city, financing will be more difficult.

Calculated across all cities, only 60 percent of real estate is affordable with the limit.

For large cities, the proportion drops to 52 percent.

And cities like Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart and Frankfurt am Main are not a purchase option for the average earner.

Simply too expensive.

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Before buying a condominium, consumers should consider that not only the monthly installment for a real estate loan, but also the price increases for food and consumer goods as well as the increased energy costs reduce the financial household situation.

"Those interested should check carefully whether they can still manage the financing in the long term even if their financial situation should change," warns Eva Grunwald, head of Postbank's real estate business, in relation to our publication.

These include, for example, a loss of earnings and a serious illness - or even a divorce.

can ruin the dream of happiness.

"Undeveloped location" and "well preserved": That's what real estate codes mean

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