Until now, the Cologne Institute for Economic Research had assumed a need for 308,000 new apartments per year. But a new study shows that significantly more apartments are needed.
According to a study, the situation is becoming increasingly difficult for people looking for housing. “The housing construction problem is immense,” said Michael Voigtländer, a real estate market expert at the Cologne Institute for Economic Research, to the newspapers of the Funke Media Group.
The employer-friendly institute had previously assumed that 308,000 new homes would have to be built each year. Now, according to a new study, it estimates the need at 372,000. One of the reasons for this is immigration, which has recently been higher than the institute expected.
Last year, 295,000 apartments were completed nationwide; the federal government had initially set itself the goal of 400,000 per year. “We now have to significantly increase construction activity,” said Voigtländer. The pressure on the rental housing market will increase significantly. In the seven largest cities, on average only 59 percent of the required apartments are being built. Rents for new rentals are rising significantly more than before, particularly in metropolitan areas.
Source: Stern
