The situation of housing markets has clearly changed in the last few years. On the one hand, there is a so far unknown coexistence of shrinking and prospering regional markets and a concurrence of drastic vacancies. On the other hand, there are strained regional housing markets and segments. In this context, the report gives a survey of the housing market including regional price, housing supply and construction activity levels as well as development trends. The information proves the general price divide ranging from the high-priced south, the west and the north to eastern Germany. The report also shows that the building activities, which have been declining for several years, have also decreased in high-priced regions. Due to the strained situation of public households and the effects of demographic development a decline of public intervention in the housing sector is to be expected. Housing supply will then be more left to market forces. Therefore, the conditions under which markets are able to function should become more important on the agenda of housing policy. This topic has different faces. An important aspect here is to guarantee the transparency by providing housing market information. At the same time the housing market development in the regions becomes more and more inconsistent. The need for housing market information, differentiated according to regional and sub-segments, is therefore growing.

The BBR responds to this increasing need for information and with the report for the first time submits a nationwide empirical analysis of regional housing markets „Wohnungsmärkte in Deutschland“ (Housing markets in Germany). A variety of official and unofficial databases were developed for this in order to be able to give an overview of regional price housing and building activity levels as well as of their development tendencies.A large part of indicators is presented at the level of spatial planning regions and counties as well as representing the „classical“ types of settlement structures of the BBR. However, housing market monitoring also requires further problem-oriented spatial patterns of analysis. Therefore, apart from a combination of geographically oriented country groups and combined types of counties a housing market-oriented typology of regions and cities according to socio-economic and demographic features has been developed for this report. But specific analyses as well, which can only be realised at the Federal level, deepen the understanding for sub-segments or demand structures respectively. The BBR has also systematically analysed rent and purchasing advertisements at the Federal level, for the the prices give detailed market information. Initial analytical results of this source were also considered in the report.

Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung)
http://www.bbr.bund.de
Markus Sigismund, tel. +49 (0228) 4011384

01/01/2004

policy

Urban Policy > Housing > Housing policy

Housing market