Overview
- Experts at the IW say Germany needs roughly 372,000 new dwellings per year, far above the 2025 total now expected.
- Completions have slid from 294,000 in 2023 to 251,900 last year, with a further drop projected for this year.
- A Pestel study reports Berlin faces a deficit of about 56,000 apartments and counts roughly 11,760 units long vacant.
- Pestel’s chief economist notes only 6,560 building permits in Berlin in the first half of the year and urges federal loans capped at two percent to revive building.
- BDB president Katharina Metzger criticizes the lack of progress and calls on Chancellor Merz to make housing a top priority, while the government signals looser rules and more digitization to cut costs.