As of: February 12, 2024, 11:27 a.m
By: Robert Wallenhauer
Comments
Press
Split
Rents in Germany continue to rise.
But the construction industry cannot help against the sharp increase in demand - it is in a deep crisis.
Wiesbaden - Renting is becoming more and more expensive in Germany.
This is proven by current figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
In 2023, the rental price index was 105.2 points - in the index, the prices for the base year 2020 are valued at 100 points.
But why are rental prices still rising?
The situation on the housing market remains particularly tense, especially in large cities.
The analysis by the private research institute Empirica for the third quarter of 2023 showed: The top 3 most expensive rental markets in Germany include Munich, with 21.1 euros per square meter, Berlin (17.76 euros per square meter) and Frankfurt am Main (17, 63 euros per square meter).
According to the research institute, two million advertisements for apartments that were built in the last ten years and are between 60 and 80 square meters in size were considered for the evaluation.
The high prices in the metropolises - and now also in their surrounding areas - are primarily due to high demand.
Rental apartment found!
Rents in major cities have recently risen sharply.
© Sebastian Rau/Imago
Boom in demand responsible for rising rental prices
According to the Immoscout24 portal, demand in the metropolises was at a very high level in the fourth quarter of 2023.
In the surrounding area, demand rose by eleven percent - this was the strongest increase in demand year-on-year.
“New price records show how tense the rental market in major cities continues to be.
This particularly affects new buildings,” says Gesa Crockford, managing director of the real estate platform.
A growing group of people who can no longer afford their own houses probably also contributed to the high demand, because: In the fight against inflation, the European Central Bank increased its key interest rate from zero to 4.5 percent in recent years.
Inflation has been falling again since the end of last year - but experts do not expect interest rate cuts until mid-2024. That is why the costs of loans remain at a high level.
This drives those who cannot afford the increased prices into the rental market.
Offer cannot keep up: construction in a crisis
A sharp increase in demand for rental apartments could be counteracted by increasing supply.
But that sounds easier than it actually is.
In reality, the German construction industry is in crisis.
High construction prices in Germany have risen by 40 percent since the pandemic - as have interest rates.
This was accompanied by a loss of confidence among investors, which led to a never-ending decline, says economist Klaus Wohlrabe from the Ifo Institute in the
Financial Times
.
My news
2 hours ago
Next bankruptcy in the fashion industry: shoe retailer from southern Germany is insolvent
Experts see “Germany’s days as an industrial superpower numbered” read
“Economy is collapsing”: Putin leads Russia into the Soviet trapread
Pension, rent and climate money: This is what the traffic light coalition is planning for 2024read
Russia threatens “logistics collapse”: China bank lets Putin run into the streets read
Increase of up to 6 percent?
Read when the pension adjustment for 2024 will be announced
“Construction prices are currently at a level that we haven’t had before.
The biggest boom of the last 50 years is now followed by the sharpest crisis of the last 50 years, and that in a period of 12 months,” says Steffen Mechter, head of the construction department at the BayWa group, in an interview with
Ippen.Media
.
The Central Association of the German Construction Industry described housing construction as a problem child.
“We have been going backwards here for 19 months.
Compared to last year, we are missing building permits for a good 83,000 residential units by November,” said Felix Pakleppa, general manager of the association.
If the decline in housing construction continues, staff have to be cut or bankruptcies occur, “in the long term we will not be able to get the housing shortage under control.
That’s why we urgently need temporary relief for private housing construction.”
(with material from dpa)