More than a million apartments are missing in Germany: the proportion of new buildings is declining in most federal states.

More than a million apartments are missing in Germany: the proportion of new buildings is declining in most federal states.

According to a report by www.bild.de, More than a million apartments are missing in Germany. Current statistics show that in 15 of 16 federal states the number of new buildings on offer even fell significantly between 2021 and 2023. Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein are particularly affected, where the proportion of new buildings has fallen by more than ten percent. The analysis by “Von Poll Immobilien” shows that, in general, fewer and fewer newly built houses and apartments are being offered on the market.

Bremen comes last in terms of new buildings, followed by Bavaria, Brandenburg and Baden-Württemberg. Only in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania did the proportion of new buildings increase by 0.4 percent.

According to the analysis, the reason for the lull in new construction lies primarily in the bureaucracy in construction, rising costs for building materials and the shortage of skilled workers. According to Daniel Ritter, managing partner at “Von Poll” in Frankfurt/Main, the regulatory hurdles, bureaucratic processes and the complexity of building regulations must be addressed in order to speed up and make the construction process cheaper.

The impact of this development on the real estate market is worrying. A decline in new construction supply may lead to a further increase in property prices as supply remains tight and demand remains high. This in turn could lead to a worsening housing shortage and social inequality. In addition, investors could be increasingly deterred, which could lead to a slowdown in economic activity in the construction and real estate sectors. Measures to speed up the construction process and reduce construction costs are therefore urgently needed to counteract the housing market.