Study: Buying a home in Germany has become more affordable
In some German regions, the purchase of a dwelling has become more affordable. This is evident in data from the Hamburg Institute of World Economics (HWWI), which determined this for the Postbank's Housing Atlas.
"Decreased house prices and increased income make it easier for average earners in many regions to find a property that ideally binds only a quarter of their net household income for financing," said Manuel Beermann, responsible for the real estate business of the Postbank, according to the press release. The "World" reported on this first.
The share of the sum of interest and amortization (annuity) in income therefore decreased nationwide last year by 5.1 percentage points to 19.4 percent. Annuity refers to the annual repayment to the credit provider. According to economists, the share of income burden in 331 of the 400 considered cities and districts was below the threshold of 25 percent.
Nationwide, the best situation is in the Thuringian district of Greiz. Buyers paid there 7.9 percent of their household income to finance the purchase of a property. Similarly, people had to spend relatively little of their income in the Saxon Vogtland district (8.0 percent) and the Brandenburg district of Elbe-Elster (8.4 percent).
27 percent of German households lived in the 69 free cities and districts where the average household had to pay more than a quarter of their available income for financing. The leader in calculations is the Landkreis Nordfriesland - it includes the islands Sylt, Amrum and Föhr (59.8 percent of household income). People paid the most in Munich, the Bavarian state capital, with 46.7 percent, followed by Berlin in third place (46.4 percent).
In contrast to regions with more affordable housing, Germany's Nordfriesland, notably known for its islands Sylt, Amrum, and Föhr, stands out as the front runner with home buyers spending an alarming 59.8% of their household income for property purchases. Interestingly, according to the Postbank's Housing Atlas data analyzed by the Hamburg Institute of World Economics, studying real estate trends in North Friesland could provide valuable insights, given its position as a prime example of high financial burden in home purchase.
