How would you like to live? How many square meters and rooms do you need to feel comfortable? And how much can the whole thing cost? Immobilienscout24 has evaluated 40,000 advertisements for rental apartments that were placed on immobilienscout24.de last year.

The apartment, which was most frequently sought throughout Germany, had an average of 150 enquiries. It has 2.5 rooms and 66 square meters. The cold rent for this amounts to 446 euro. However it showed up that a dwelling of this category is hardly to be found in the cities. Depending on the city, up to 1,700 potential tenants apply for such an apartment via Immobilienscout24 alone. This shows how starkly the demand exceeds the supply. And in the future this will probably hardly change in Germany.

Likewise the study of Immobilienscout24 resulted in, how strongly the rents rose in Germany in the past five years. In southern Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, prices rose by 23 percent. However, this is nothing compared to Berlin, where prices rose by 36 percent in the same period. But this was closely followed by Stuttgart with 35 percent and Munich with 32 percent. In the remaining old federal states and in Brandenburg, price increases are between 15 and 18 percent. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony, prices rose by only nine percent. In Thuringia, price increases still reach 10 percent. The increased prices lead to the fact that smaller dwellings are looked for. At Immobilienscout, these were apartments with 2 or 2.5 rooms and between 45 and 55 square metres.

The study also showed, however, that prices in smaller towns and rural regions have risen sharply. In the district of Lörrach on the Swiss border, prices rose by a whopping 37 percent. In Heilbronn (city), Würzburg (district) and Augsburg (city) there were price increases of 32 to 34 percent.

Immobilienscout points out that already two years ago, not enough living space was taken into account. According to the German Statistical Office, building permits for a total of 316,550 new apartments were issued in 2016. If a building permit is not implemented within four years, it must be applied for and paid for again. Experience shows that about ten percent of building permits are not implemented. If all approved projects are completed four years later, this means that 316,550 apartments will be ready for occupancy by 2020. However, in order to effectively combat the housing shortage, 350,000 to 400,000 apartments must be built annually by 2020. This was the result of a recent study by KfW-Förderbank. In two years’ time, 83,450 apartments will be lacking. However, the study did not take into account the fact that there is a shortage of building land and that building permits have already declined.

Do you want to sell your house in the future or are you looking for a smaller property? Please contact us. We will be happy to advise you.

Photo: © vicnt