Living in the district remains an extremely expensive affair. Corona has not changed anything about that, on the contrary. The pandemic, with its side effect of being able to work in the home office and thus independently of the office in the company, is increasing the influx of people into the region. With the result that the demand for an already scarce supply increases and the exorbitant prices continue to rise. Those for houses, condominiums and rents between Icking and Kochel have almost doubled in the past ten years. This is shown by the new housing market report by Sparkasse Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen. And: “We are not yet at the end of the price spiral in the district,” says board member Thorsten Straubinger.
Geretsried is a striking example of this. Since 2011, houses and apartments have increased in price by almost 140 percent: ten years ago you paid a good 1,800 euros per square meter, it is now just under 4,400 euros. Trend: rising sharply. Or Bad Heilbrunn: a few years ago, the small health resort was still relatively cheap and a kind of insider tip for young families. In 2016 the prices for houses and condominiums averaged 2825 euros, now they are 4320 euros. Rents also increased significantly: from 8.80 euros per square meter in 2013 to around 12.10 euros in Geretsried, from 7.75 to just under ten euros in Bad Heilbrunn in the same period.
“We are not yet at the end of the price spiral in the district,” says Sparkasse board member Thorsten Straubinger.
(Photo: Sparkasse / OH)
It is still the most expensive to live in Münsing (an average of 4650 euros per square meter for residential complexes; 11.95 euros per square meter for rents) and in Wolfratshausen (4600 euros; 13.80 euros). In contrast, the prices in Lenggries and Gaißach (3605 euros; 10.05 euros) and in the Kochel, Benediktbeuern, Bichl and Jachenau area (3805 euros; 10.30 euros) are still reasonably acceptable. On the one hand there are the wealthy who invest their money in real estate, on the other hand there are young families who are desperately looking for affordable residential property in a high-price region: “This is the social gap that is emerging in our business area,” says Straubinger .
As a board member of a bank that operates as a real estate agent, he doesn’t like to speak of investors as bad guys and tenants as good guys. He rejects such labels. No housing would be created without investors, he says. “And if they can’t manage it, there won’t be any rental accommodation.” Straubinger doesn’t think much of government control instruments such as the tightened rent brake. “It won’t work,” he predicts. Such mechanisms could not long override the laws of the market. You have already seen that with the oil price. In addition, in a rural region there is often no starting point, such as a rent index, adds Florian Knab, Head of Private Banking and real estate expert at the Sparkasse.
Florian Knab is Head of Private Banking and Real Estate Expert at the Sparkasse.
(Photo: Sparkasse / OH)
Straubinger sees the task of a local bank as “giving all sections of the population access to financial services, both for real estate loans and for securities savings plans for old-age provision”. After all, you know the market in the region better than a major bank. It is important for investors that they get their investment right. And people who do not have a lot of wealth are said to be given “access to home ownership”. Straubinger definitely sees opportunities there. The low interest rate policy of the European Central Bank, which drove many investors into the real estate market and caused prices to explode, also holds an opportunity for young families, he says. Twenty years ago, six or seven percent interest and repayments had to be paid for a loan, now it is only three to four percent. Above all, however, there are now long fixed interest rates, says Straubinger. Therefore, after ten years, there is no need to fear receiving such high follow-up interest that the monthly budget is no longer sufficient.
Nevertheless: The supply of houses and condominiums in the district is sparse, and the demand is growing steadily. An important factor is the increased influx of people into the region, says Knab. “The bacon belt around Munich is getting wider and wider.” In Wolfratshausen there are now houses on meadows where he played as a child, he says. This situation is exacerbated by Corona. The pandemic is causing “an increasing love for home ownership,” says Straubinger. To make matters worse, the corona-related delivery problems and the scarce material, but also the long approval procedures, make building a new house more expensive, which means that the demand for existing houses or apartments is currently increasing and driving prices up there.
In any case, fewer offers are published on the Internet platforms than previously. According to Straubinger, this also depends on the law for brokerage commission that was changed in 2020, according to which the seller and buyer each pay half of this brokerage fee – and no longer the buyer alone. The new regulation has contributed to the fact that many properties are going under the hand. Or the seller simply saddles the commission he has to pay on top of the purchase price. Sometimes, warns Straubinger, real moon prices are charged on the Internet – simply to test whether someone is not paying them after all. Conversely, according to Knab, there are sometimes offers that are so cheap that 30 interested parties are immediately at the door – then there is a bidding process.
Isn’t there a glimmer of hope that prices on the real estate market will fall again at some point? Straubinger replies: “If a large amount of residential property comes on the market, it keeps the price stable.” That is why he also advocates that cities and housing associations build themselves. The problem for them, however, is to get hold of land – “that is the eye of the needle”.
In Geretsried this is less difficult than in Wolfratshausen or Bad Tölz. Knab is certain that the city will soon crack the 30,000 mark. Measured in terms of land transfer tax revenue, the largest market volume is recorded there, according to Straubinger. “There is a lot going on, a lot is being developed, a lot is being built, there is space.” The Sparkasse itself is also building a multi-storey residential and commercial building with 25 residential units on the corner of Egerlandstrasse and Karl-Lederer-Platz. Not least in order to accommodate their own employees in affordable domiciles. Many companies in the district also have a problem finding skilled workers because they cannot afford the expensive apartments. Or want to.
Especially when it comes to low-paid nursing staff. Many customers are placed in such a way that they can only set aside a little money a month, which is by far not enough for an investment in their own home, says Straubinger. “This is a social explosive.” These clients are also offered stock and real estate savings plans for small amounts starting at 25 euros per month. If you start doing this very early, you can build up a fortune in the long term, he says. Of course, you can’t even finance your own home in an Upper Franconian village like this. Straubinger does not have this in mind either: “It is an important building block for old-age provision.”