Germany sees property prices drop in 14 major cities
Housing prices in the Bundesrepublik have been skyrocketing over the past few years. But a new analysis from real estate website Immowelt shows that now may be the right moment for prospective buyers.
Housing in Germany - especially in larger cities - is notorious for being both hard to obtain and hard to afford.
However, the purchase prices for real estate have fallen in many cities around the Bundesrepublik, according to an analysis by real estate online platform Immowelt.
According to the analysis, prices in all 14 cities surveyed are below their peak in 2022, but significant differences are still discernible.
For the analysis, offers advertised on immowelt.de in 2022 in 14 big cities were examined and 2022 prices for existing first-floor flats from the 1990s, all with a size 75 square metres with three rooms, were compared with those from August 1st this year.
READ ALSO: MAP: Where property prices are forecast to rise and fall in Germany
According to the study, Hanover is the city with the largest percentage drop in prices: properties in the Lower Saxony city were listed at a full 16.9 percent less this year than a year earlier.
Immowelt reported that the price for a 75-square-metre flat in the city fell from €307,000 to €255,000.
Hardly any change in Berlin
Dresden, where purchase prices fell by 13 percent, came in second place, according to the analysis. Accordingly, the price for a comparable flat there is currently €192,000.
Bremen, Stuttgart and Munich also recorded significant percentage price declines.
The situation is quite different in the German capital, but still gave a glimmer of hope: In Berlin, prices fell by only 3.3 percent.
Sudden drop
Overall, housing prices in Germany skyrocketed between 2016 and 2022.
The average price increase in all 400 German regions was 77 percent - from €1,757 to €3,075 per square metre, according to the Postbank’s recently published Housing Atlas.
READ ALSO: REVEALED: The German regions where house prices have doubled in six years
The capital, in particular, has seen prices spiral out of control in recent years, with a 82 percent price increase between 2016 and 2022, according to Postbank.
So the decline could signal to prospective buyers that now is a good time to step in to buy - although mortgage interest rates remain high at over four percent, compared to one percent in 2021.
The following table shows the price decrease in the 14 cities surveyed.
Hanover
-16,9 Percent
Dresden
-13,0 Percent
Bremen
-11,6 Percent
Stuttgart
-11,1 Percent
Munich
-10,8 Percent
Cologne
-9,7 Percent
Düsseldorf
-9,6 Percent
Nuremberg
-9,4 Percent
Frankfurt
-9,0 Percent
Hamburg
-7,2 Percent
Essen
-6,7 Percent
Dortmund
-5,7 Percent
Leipzig
-4,2 Percent
Berlin
-3,3 Percent
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Housing in Germany - especially in larger cities - is notorious for being both hard to obtain and hard to afford.
However, the purchase prices for real estate have fallen in many cities around the Bundesrepublik, according to an analysis by real estate online platform Immowelt.
According to the analysis, prices in all 14 cities surveyed are below their peak in 2022, but significant differences are still discernible.
For the analysis, offers advertised on immowelt.de in 2022 in 14 big cities were examined and 2022 prices for existing first-floor flats from the 1990s, all with a size 75 square metres with three rooms, were compared with those from August 1st this year.
READ ALSO: MAP: Where property prices are forecast to rise and fall in Germany
According to the study, Hanover is the city with the largest percentage drop in prices: properties in the Lower Saxony city were listed at a full 16.9 percent less this year than a year earlier.
Immowelt reported that the price for a 75-square-metre flat in the city fell from €307,000 to €255,000.
Hardly any change in Berlin
Dresden, where purchase prices fell by 13 percent, came in second place, according to the analysis. Accordingly, the price for a comparable flat there is currently €192,000.
Bremen, Stuttgart and Munich also recorded significant percentage price declines.
The situation is quite different in the German capital, but still gave a glimmer of hope: In Berlin, prices fell by only 3.3 percent.
Sudden drop
Overall, housing prices in Germany skyrocketed between 2016 and 2022.
The average price increase in all 400 German regions was 77 percent - from €1,757 to €3,075 per square metre, according to the Postbank’s recently published Housing Atlas.
READ ALSO: REVEALED: The German regions where house prices have doubled in six years
The capital, in particular, has seen prices spiral out of control in recent years, with a 82 percent price increase between 2016 and 2022, according to Postbank.
So the decline could signal to prospective buyers that now is a good time to step in to buy - although mortgage interest rates remain high at over four percent, compared to one percent in 2021.
The following table shows the price decrease in the 14 cities surveyed.
|
Hanover |
-16,9 Percent |
|
Dresden |
-13,0 Percent |
|
Bremen |
-11,6 Percent |
|
Stuttgart |
-11,1 Percent |
|
Munich |
-10,8 Percent |
|
Cologne |
-9,7 Percent |
|
Düsseldorf |
-9,6 Percent |
|
Nuremberg |
-9,4 Percent |
|
Frankfurt |
-9,0 Percent |
|
Hamburg |
-7,2 Percent |
|
Essen |
-6,7 Percent |
|
Dortmund |
-5,7 Percent |
|
Leipzig |
-4,2 Percent |
|
Berlin |
-3,3 Percent |
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