Can we really afford this, and will the bank support it?

I live in Bavaria. I would like to have a property that stagnates for such a long time.

No problem. Wait 10 years until the industry has moved away, then it will be fine.

No problem. Wait 10 years until the industry has moved away, then it will be fine.

That is the point. Those who currently have to buy for family reasons and cannot wait will probably have to bite the bullet and buy at temporarily high prices. In the short term, prices will certainly not collapse. However, tying yourself to an oversized property in the hope that it will still yield a decent return in a few decades is not very clever. I would rather invest my capital in countries that promise more growth. If you are interested, take a look at the prices in Detroit City. No, it doesn’t have to and hopefully will not get that bad. But even in Germany, there are enough examples and regions that have experienced economic decline and this has accordingly affected property prices. You must not be blinded by the once booming metropolises, and things will also get worse there if the local industry moves away.

But to tie oneself to an oversized property in the hope that it will still yield a decent return in a few decades,

When buying a property for personal use, no one seriously cares about the return after a few decades... At most, the quality-of-life return.

When buying a primary residence, no one seriously cares about the return after a few decades... At most, the quality of life return.

That is true, but the OP explicitly mentioned that it is not only about consumption, but also financial aspects (fear of forced levies, etc.) play a role. If only consumption matters, then one only has to ask whether alternative consumption with a smaller house is really inferior. But that is an individual assessment.

That is true, but the OP explicitly mentioned that it is not only about consumption, but also financial aspects (fear of compulsory levies, etc.) play a role

Did I miss something? He explicitly wrote that he will not go into the reasons for the move and that the new house is simply "nicer, better, more suitable." Quality of life, the financial aspect is only a "if we earn even €8,600 net as in the past, can we afford €4,000 for the house including ancillary costs?"

Did I miss something? He explicitly wrote that he will not go into the reasons for the move and that the new house is simply "nicer, better, more fitting." Quality of life, the financial aspect is just a "if we even earn 8,600€ net like in the past, can we then afford 4,000€ for the house including incidental costs?" .

Yes. He is still afraid of a wealth tax (if not here, then it was in another thread). As I said, purely for consumption reasons you can do it like that, but then you could do almost anything. Then you could also drive a Porsche instead of a VW, Louis Vuitton instead of a common brand, etc. It then no longer concerns practical use. However, once the financial side of a deal is to be evaluated (and that is actually what this forum is for), other criteria are factored into the calculation. And if the only argument left is: "then it will be sold if necessary, you don’t go into private insolvency with your equity," then to me, that’s quite a naive perspective. Perhaps also due to the perspective of a bank advisor who earns his money with mortgage loans.

Even if only the consumption perspective counted, with this income I wouldn’t want to put 50% into my house, but would have other wishes that would then have to be reduced accordingly. But that’s an individual preference and merely a food for thought. Only the original poster can decide that.