Even for high earners, the dream of owning a home is becoming a thing of the past

detached house

On average in the seven largest cities, the proportion of affordable single- and two-family houses for the highest-income 20 percent of households has halved.

(Photo: dpa)

Berlin It is becoming increasingly difficult to buy an apartment or house in Germany – even for people with a good income. The turnaround in interest rates in 2022 has significantly reduced the proportion of what is known as affordable housing. This is shown by an as yet unpublished study by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW), which is available to the Handelsblatt.

In the case of single-family homes, for example, the share of this supply fell from 62 percent at the beginning of last year to 47 percent in the third quarter, even for the highest-income 20 percent of households. For average income households (median) with around 3,730 euros net, the proportion fell from 40 to 28 percent during this period. These households could therefore only afford 28 percent of the objects on offer.

A property is considered “affordable” if households have to spend no more than 30 percent of their annual income on annual interest and principal payments on a loan that has been granted.

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