Can an average family afford a single-family house at all?

You can then, for example, sell the house when the children have moved out and buy a nice apartment with the money, including management, janitor, etc.
Of course, if I build a 250m² house in my youth that I later only use 30%, the calculation doesn't add up.
What is undisputed, however, is that the rent is finally gone once the house is paid off, and you have a certain value.

And this is exactly the fairy tale the bankers tell you, and the average-smart builder falls for it

Believe what you want.. The fact remains: Most builders are better off paying rent than building a house.

And this exact fairy tale is what the bankers tell you, and the average clever builder falls for it.

Believe what you want... The fact remains: For the majority of builders, paying rent is cheaper than building a house.

Nobody says that investments are due.

We bought a new one for 250k and we are happy. My wife will lose her job and get a high severance pay. So what? We didn’t go into debt beyond our means. It happens.

I exceptionally agree with Steffen. The problem is that hardly anyone builds the way they would rent. Accordingly, everyone pays more interest than necessary, and thus the beautiful calculation of bankers, construction companies, and prospective homeowners does not work out in the end. This is the best example:

This is how it looks, for the standard "Energy Efficiency House 55" you have to dig deeper into your pocket and many builders weigh this up, especially when the spending situation is already tight. Or you prefer to put the "additional costs" into the exterior facilities.

Why not just spend less.

nobody says investments are due.

we bought new for 250k and are happy. wife will lose job and get a large severance. so what? we have not gone into debt beyond our means. it happens.

Topic missed. Grade 6, fail!

It was solely about the statement: A house is a used item that wears out and costs money. Paying rent is cheaper in the long run for the majority than owning a property used by oneself.

You can then also sell the house, for example, when the children have moved out and buy a nice apartment with the money, with management, caretaker, etc.

Why didn’t you buy the house from the previous generation but instead built one? Don’t tell me the market is empty – there are houses everywhere with renovation backlog. Yours will become one too, because no one keeps constantly working on the "new" thing that costs money. It wears out, but we residents become blind to it. What is new to us is old for the future. Then people like to make a special repayment again or finally take the vacation they have waited a decade for. The house gets even older. But not necessarily in our eyes. Once it's paid off, theoretically you can invest 1/3 to 1/2 of the house price to modernize technology and equipment or sell it on the market for that price.

Of course, you can sell – but you always pay for it.

I agree with Steffen exceptionally this time.

Me too

Believe what you want.. The fact remains: Paying rent is cheaper for the majority of builders than building a house.

Yes - but also because the living value is not the same. When you rent, you are restricted, you cannot change, extend, remodel, etc., or you always have to ask the owner first and never know if the investment is worthwhile or if you will be able to "live off" it.

It is different with ownership, you are free in your decisions and have a higher utility value.

The discrepancy between owner-occupied and rented property is - unfortunately - very clearly seen when a tenant has wasted the beloved basement apartment or the family home: renovated as if for oneself, it is just not treated that way by the tenant (understandably), ergo the investment does not come back.

And exactly this fairy tale is told to you by the bankers and the average smart builder falls for it

On that also a clear maybe, but I can understand your statement. There are (new) building areas and properties where the deal will predictably not work or only with a lot of luck. You can explain this to people 10 times, but they simply lack the basic understanding of where a (residential) value comes from or will come from in the future. But there are also properties/areas where a house is already sold when grandma just has a slight cough - they never go into foreclosure no matter the condition and do not appear in ads, but are sold immediately by word of mouth. And then the deal works.

The biggest mistake, however, is often that people stay in their often too large houses in old age because they are attached to them. This destroys living value because it largely remains unused, is not maintained/repaired, and therefore cannot be increased at sale.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe