Generation buy? Rising number of germans buy rather than rent

Photo: Skohlmann

Germany has traditionally been a country of tenants rather than owners, a trend that the UK has been slowly moving towards. Indeed, Generation Rent is becoming a British norm, as young buyers and house hunters are priced out of the market due to rising prices and a severe shortage of supply.

Comparisons were widely drawn with the UK's European cousins, with much being made of the shift away from homeownership, which has always been a dream in both the UK and the US. Now, though, German residents may be becoming more like the UK, according to the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln (via OPP).

The Institute's research reveals that 43 per cent of people living in the country own their homes, but that the number is on the up. The five-year study of all 402 counties and cities in Germany says that buying a house or apartment made financial sense in 27 per cent of the regions, as residential property becomes increasingly overvalued. Nonetheless, low interest rates are encouraging Germans to become homeowners.

At the same time, foreign buyers continue to eye up the buy to let market in Germany, with Berlin and Munich's price rises not denting the high yields on apartments available in the capital city.