With an average square meter price of 9100 euros for condominiums, Munich remains by far Bavaria’s most expensive place on the real estate market. In contrast, according to the 2022 real estate market report presented on Thursday, the district of Wunsiedel has around 1000 euros per square meter of living space. The state capital has been at the top of Germany’s real estate prices for years. In 2020, however, the average price was still 8150 euros per square meter.
Across Bavaria in 2021, an average of around 3,000 euros was paid for the resale of a condominium. This price level prevails in the districts of Deggendorf and Würzburg or the city of Memmingen. In general, the report continues to show striking differences in prices between southern Bavaria, especially in the extended area around Munich and in parts of the independent cities, and the northern Bavarian area and the area of the entire former borderland, it said.
Currently, less than 2000 euros per square meter of living space is paid in only 15 districts, mainly in northern Bavaria, but also in the Bavarian Forest. At the same time, in 2021, an average of over 6,000 euros had to be paid for a square meter of living space in six districts south of Munich. The report shows all real estate sales, broken down into the sub-markets of building land, developed properties, condominiums and agricultural land, supplemented with price levels and the respective developments over time.
About 20 percent of the annual money turnover in Germany is achieved in the Free State alone. For 2021, the report registered a turnover of 71.6 billion euros in a total of 160,000 real estate transactions. In comparison, the first Bavarian real estate market report for 2015 recorded a turnover of 36.1 billion euros with 150,000 transactions. This means that the turnover for all properties and land has almost doubled within six years – with a small increase in transactions.
Although real estate prices have risen sharply in many parts of Bavaria in recent years, many people have been able to afford them, primarily due to the historically low interest rates, the Ministry of Building announced. However, this influence is likely to weaken in the near future due to the already considerable increase in building interest rates.
The demand for real estate is significantly higher than the stock on offer
Interest rates have almost tripled since the beginning of the year and are currently at 3.5 percent in some cases. After more than two years, the data showed that, apart from a short-term decline in sales in spring 2020, the pandemic had no impact on overall sales and long-term price developments. The enormously increased construction prices, the disrupted supply chains and the rising energy costs as a result of the pandemic and the Ukraine war as well as the increased financing costs are currently much more difficult for the real estate market.
Despite the developments in Bavaria, the Upper Expert Committee responsible for preparing the report does not yet see a price bubble. The demand for real estate is significantly higher than the stock on offer. “However, it can be assumed that properties in simpler locations or with a considerable need for renovation will initially be examined far more critically in terms of an appropriate price level in the future,” it said.
Such a market adjustment would be good for the real estate market. In order to be able to give politicians, the population and the economy timely warnings of an overheating of the real estate market, it can be assumed that the data will have to be analyzed in shorter cycles in the future.