Homeownership in Germany is lower overall than in most other developed countries. In 2017, Germany's homeownership rate was 51%. At the end of
World War II, 2.25 million homes were destroyed with another two million damaged, reducing overall housing stocks by 20%. In 1949, West Germany enacted its first housing law and by 1961 had reduced its housing shortage from 5.5 million units to only 658,000. The mortgage market remained weak with banks requiring large downpayments from borrowers.
Germany has comparatively low rental prices and a high proportion of
rent controlled
Rent regulation is a system of laws, administered by a court or a public authority, which aims to ensure the affordability of housing and tenancies on the rental market for dwellings. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves:
*Price cont ...
units. The German government does not deduct mortgage interest payments from taxes.
In the 2000s, Germany reduced government subsidies for homeownership.
References
German culture
Society of Germany
Housing in Germany
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