Germany: 90 billion pledged, only 207,000 apartments delivered — and there's more

Germany completed around 207,000 apartments in 2025, 17.9% fewer than the previous year and the lowest figure since 2012, while rents in Hamburg rose 23.6% in a year, the biggest increase among 70 European cities.

Germany ended 2025 with around **207,000** apartments completed, **17.9%** fewer than the year before. It is the lowest figure since **2012** and leaves the country with **2.48** new homes per 1,000 inhabitants. For perspective: in **1996**, 600,000 were being built.

## Less construction than almost all of Europe

Deloitte's **Property Index** places Germany below most of its neighbours in per capita construction. Only **Hungary** (1.26), **Spain** (1.64) and the **United Kingdom** (2.08) build less housing relative to their population. France reaches 5.48; Poland, 5.59; Turkey, 7.82; and Albania leads with 9.22. Germany builds less than half per inhabitant than France or Poland.

The pattern repeats beyond its borders: neighbouring countries also struggle with high costs, expensive interest rates and a shortage of skilled labour. It is not an exclusively German problem, but it shows more there because it starts from a larger volume and has been falling for years.

## Hamburg, European champion of rent hikes

Where Germany does not lag behind is in rental prices. **Hamburg** recorded an increase of **23.6%** in one year, the largest among the 70 European cities surveyed. It is trinc by the Albanian cities of **Durrës** (+22.4%) and **Vlorë** (+20%). **Frankfurt** (+14.6%) and **Munich** (+11.5%) rank fifth and sixth.

Buying offers no relief either. **Munich** tops Europe at **11,200 euros** per square metre, ahead of Luxembourg (10,567) and Amsterdam (8,650). Hamburg and Frankfurt, both at 7,700 euros, and **Berlin**, at 7,500, place four German cities among the ten most expensive on the continent.

## No sign that rents will fall

Experts surveyed expect rents to keep rising in **19 of the 24 countries** studied through 2026, Germany included. Stability is expected only in Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Serbia. No country forecasts a decline.

With that combination — little new construction, sustained demand and financing costs — there is little room for prices to ease. Anyone thinking of moving or buying would do well to check the figures with an adviser before signing anything.