4 ms·

I'm very skeptical at the following claim, if taken at face value: > Germany house prices have about doubled in the last 10 years In the capital, prices 10 ye

I'm very skeptical at the following claim, if taken at face value: > Germany house prices have about doubled in the last 10 years In the capital, prices 10 years ago were extremely low. People who bought apartments between 10 and 20 ago bought them as low as 1000€/sqm, which is exceptionally low for a European capital. Under such conditions, price doubling is expected independently of any policy.

martin_bech 6y ago
German housing is a litle different, as many prefer to rent, so less demand for beeing an owner.
- p1esk 6y ago
  Why do they prefer to rent?
  - allendoerfer 6y ago
    After WWII the German government created strict renter protection laws and the state invested heavily in relatively high quality public housing. You can compare the results to the UK, which cities were also bombed, but invested in private housing instead. Germany also famously had been "the sick man of Europe" before the current boom, were real wages did not rise for a long time.
- raxxorrax 6y ago
  True, if I have no chance to finance it, you prefer renting compared to homelessness. But workplace mobility, yeah!
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
10 years ago was the peak of the housing bubble collapse (or just after), so the price of houses was depressed for a while. That said, housing prices have gone up by ridiculous amounts since then, in part thanks to economic recovery, in part due to low mortgage interest rates, and in part (linked) due to low savings account rates. Better to put that money in real estate (and more risky investments on the stock market) than let it wither in a savings account. But hey, for a while a few people made a lot of money.
raxxorrax 6y ago
Berlin isn't representative. It has comparatively and surprisingly low prices on housing. Don't know if prices doubled, but it is increasingly difficult for younger people to acquire a home. People said the Euro helped Germany, and maybe that is correct, but that would be restricted to exporters. For almost everyone else it was a net loss. Electronics got pretty cheap I guess...
allendoerfer 6y ago
Berlin is not a normal European capital in almost every way. Look at Frankfurt (financial capital of Germany/EU) or Munich (capital of Bavaria) if you want to see how Berlin would be if it were "normal". Then you will find stuff like this [0]. [0]: https://www.ubs.com/global/en/media/display-page-ndp/en-20200930-ubs-bubble-index-2020.html https://www.ubs.com/global/en/media/display-page-ndp/en-2020...

martin_bech 6y ago

German housing is a litle different, as many prefer to rent, so less demand for beeing an owner.

p1esk 6y ago
Why do they prefer to rent?
- allendoerfer 6y ago
  After WWII the German government created strict renter protection laws and the state invested heavily in relatively high quality public housing. You can compare the results to the UK, which cities were also bombed, but invested in private housing instead. Germany also famously had been "the sick man of Europe" before the current boom, were real wages did not rise for a long time.
raxxorrax 6y ago
True, if I have no chance to finance it, you prefer renting compared to homelessness. But workplace mobility, yeah!

Cthulhu_ 6y ago

10 years ago was the peak of the housing bubble collapse (or just after), so the price of houses was depressed for a while. That said, housing prices have gone up by ridiculous amounts since then, in part thanks to economic recovery, in part due to low mortgage interest rates, and in part (linked) due to low savings account rates. Better to put that money in real estate (and more risky investments on the stock market) than let it wither in a savings account. But hey, for a while a few people made a lot of money.

raxxorrax 6y ago

Berlin isn't representative. It has comparatively and surprisingly low prices on housing. Don't know if prices doubled, but it is increasingly difficult for younger people to acquire a home. People said the Euro helped Germany, and maybe that is correct, but that would be restricted to exporters. For almost everyone else it was a net loss. Electronics got pretty cheap I guess...

allendoerfer 6y ago

Berlin is not a normal European capital in almost every way. Look at Frankfurt (financial capital of Germany/EU) or Munich (capital of Bavaria) if you want to see how Berlin would be if it were "normal". Then you will find stuff like this [0]. [0]: https://www.ubs.com/global/en/media/display-page-ndp/en-20200930-ubs-bubble-index-2020.html https://www.ubs.com/global/en/media/display-page-ndp/en-2020...