Despite the coronavirus pandemic - which has stagnated economic output and plunged Germany into a recession - it appears that the boom in the German housing market is continuing without a pause. House prices rose once again in the first quarter of 2020. 

Real estate prices up in first quarter of 2020

The cost of buying a house in Germany continues to shoot skyward, according to new figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Prices for residential real estate were, on average, 6,8 percent higher in the first quarter of 2020 than in the first quarter of 2019. Compared to the previous quarter (i.e. the last quarter of 2019), prices rose 0,3 percent. 

Destatis found that real estate buyers are having to pay more in both urban and rural areas, but the strongest increases are to be found in the seven biggest German cities - Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf - where prices for houses shot up by an average of 9,5 percent.

Price growth strong in both urban and rural areas

In the other major cities with a population of 100.000 or more, house prices rose by 8,3 percent and the cost of apartments rose by 9,3 percent. Residential real estate also became more expensive in rural areas, where prices rose, on average, by 6,1 percent for houses and 4,9 percent for apartments. 

The real estate market in Germany has now been booming for more than 10 years, with strong economic activity, rising incomes and housing shortages all driving prices up. Record-low interest rates also mean that it’s never been so cheap to get a mortgage.