There was a time, not that long ago that the German property market was considered by many as ‘boring’ and unimaginative. This was due to its slow but ‘measured’ growth.
However that has changed because of European and international political and economic uncertainty. The ‘boring’ stability and transparency, which were before perhaps considered a sort of liability, are now attracting investors. In fact, Germany is the new safe haven of choice for real estate investors in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
However within this framework of solid political and economic stability, German real estate is not a monolithic or uniform entity and there are clear regional differences, as for example between the large southern citiy of Munich and the nation’s capital Berlin.
Munich prices have risen sharply both in housing, construction land and in the commercial sector and the city’s expert committee recently presented an annual report on the Munich real estate market. This was the subject of an article this week by Anna Hoben in Germany’s leading newspaper, the Munich based Süddeutsche Zeitung.
According to this report, € 12.9 billion changed hands for Munich real estate last year.
The ‘expert committee’ of the city consists of 30 specialists, besides the profession of self-employed experts for real estate evaluation, the representative of the municipal finance office and the planning authority, project developers, property developers and brokers.
The article highlights the following pricing examples: a villa in Oberföhring, 900 square meters of living space, for 19 million Euro. A semi-detached house in Bogenhausen for 6.4 million Euro. A terraced house, 400 square meters of living space, for 5 million Euro or 335 sq.m condominium, for 8.4 million Euro.
