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

Thank you for your answers. I personally also feel rather "uncomfortable" with this amount, but of course I discuss it with my wife who sees it a bit differently. However, I am still mainly managing the finances. I am a bit more critical of projecting the "center of life" onto the house. That is why I would also prefer the house to have 200 instead of 240 sqm, then I would worry less. Above all, it is the surroundings that make the difference for us with this property (location, larger garden, pool, outdoor area in general, etc.).

No more investment is needed in the house, it is 100% move-in ready including the kitchen. We would only have to move the furniture. The 1.1 million € for our house are even conservatively estimated. Comparable new builds (and these are rare online) in the area were offered at 7,200€ to 7,600€ per sqm of living space. I say deliberately "comparable," because these were all houses without a full KNX system, cold winter garden, and custom-made gate and fence system from the locksmith for 25k. The bank "conservatively" valued the house at 1.0 million € when it came to securing the then loan. And the above-mentioned features had not yet been included or were deliberately excluded. But it is true, without a concrete offer all of this is just speculation.

Offered does not mean that it will also go for the price. Price of the new property 1.6 million, i.e. around 100,000 EUR just for incidental purchase costs.

And you have to get the new place first. In these price ranges, I can imagine someone coming by and saying "I want it, I'll even give you 2 million if necessary."

The loan is then about 800k, encumbrances roughly calculated at 5% amount to 40k per year. Income 8k*12 = 96k. That leaves 56k to live on. In my opinion, that works well.

It would hurt me a lot to give away 25k to the bank every year.

Is your property easy to sell?

Offered does not mean it will actually go for that price.

The listings - if they were even online once - were gone so quickly, I would be surprised if they didn’t get close to the asking price.

Price of the new property 1.6 million, meaning around 100,000 EUR just for ancillary purchase costs.

Someone has to (co-)sponsor the notary’s Porsche. That the state wants to cash in well is nothing new. 88k are ancillary purchase costs, but I had already factored those in at the beginning.
It hurts with this amount, I wouldn’t just wait and hope a new government might change something there, especially not in this price range.

And you have to get the new place first anyway.

That’s absolutely true. Wanting doesn’t automatically mean getting.

In these price ranges I can imagine someone coming along and saying “I want it, I’ll give you 2 million if I have to.”

I honestly don’t believe that yet in this price region. The property isn’t that exclusive, only the area is generally somewhat high-priced. Comparable almost to Munich. For 1.6 million € in Munich you also “only” get a nice 150 sqm single-family house on a 350 sqm plot. I don’t think anyone would pay 100k more than absolutely necessary.

The loan is about 800k, assuming roughly 5% charges that’s 40k per year. Income 8k*12 = 96k. That leaves 56k to live on. In my opinion, that works well.

It would hurt me a lot to give 25k to the bank every year.

Is your property easy to sell?

Those are already huge sums, not much must go wrong, you have to be aware of that.
I strongly assume that we could sell pretty quickly if necessary. I have been watching the single-family house market on the usual portals for years. Ready-to-move-in new builds around 1 million € were on average not online for even a month. And often there were brokerage commissions on top to pay. I have a broker among my friends who would sell it for me for a really reasonable flat fee, so I could offer it commission-free for the buyer.

A listing for a new building in our city just appeared that caught our attention. I don't want to go into the background and details now

That can be respected.
But I find such a statement

it is 100% ready to move in, including kitchen.

somewhat naive.
Who would, having just moved into a newly built house and wishing for something bigger, be tempted to think that you get the house offer including a kitchen installed by the builder/seller?

You have also been in this forum for some time, so you should know that no final price is offered?!

That can be respected. But I find such a statement somewhat naive. Who, having just moved into a newly built house, wishing for something bigger, would be led to believe that the house offer including a kitchen installed by the builder/seller is sufficient? You have also been in this forum for a while, so you should know that no final price is offered?!

I don't know if I am interpreting your statement correctly, so apologies in advance if that is the case. What is supposed to be wrong with the kitchen? It is from the most expensive kitchen manufacturer in the city and is named by the seller of the property in the exposé. I suspect that the house sale was not planned long in advance, but unfortunately is probably due to a divorce etc. All built-in furniture (wardrobe, bathrooms, dressing room) was installed by the carpenter and is already present. Yes, I have been in the forum for a while and I am aware that every house has to be somewhat adapted to personal needs, but when I say the house is essentially 100% finished, I really mean it. There are even 2 wall boxes hanging in the garage. The only thing that is apparently "missing" are the curtains.