Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

But you do not have a right to everything. Here you just have to set priorities. Those who want property may simply not be able to go on vacation twice a year, etc. Especially with consumption, you can certainly do without. Everyone has to stretch according to their means. For some, that limit is higher and for others lower.

In the article from WELT, by working backwards, you arrive at an average household net income of about 5500 euros. So 1375 euros installment at 25%. Presumably, this calculation only applies to the households that actually buy and is not related to all households.

I was almost exactly right with the +50%. But even the 1375 euros are quite clearly at the very low end. Old financings will definitely pull the average down significantly. And thus, affordability says nothing, because affordability is determined by the current situation. Furthermore, with this preselection, it is easy to arrive at the twisted result that the article is now proudly presenting as "everything is completely different." If normal earners can no longer afford a property and only the "rich" manage, then the average burden naturally decreases. But that says absolutely nothing about affordability for the average person. And that is no longer given even at the roughly 1400 euros average of all property financings.

That says absolutely nothing about affordability for the average person. And that is no longer given at the nearly €1400 average for all property financings.

Caution! We are here in the "house building forum" and not in the "apartment building forum", which tends to narrow the perspective a bit ;)

And in terms of size, most transactions are things like condominiums in the district town and not the few semi-detached houses that change owners in Munich. For most condominiums, a €1000 to €1200 installment will definitely be enough, and single-family houses, with €1600 to €1900 so far, just raise the average to this value.

Don't underestimate that. Even in small towns, it has become expensive, and apartments are not much cheaper than houses. Even in a rural district town like [Sigmaringen], you now pay 3000€/sqm. Plus additional costs. Yes, you can still manage something with a 1000€ installment. But it's not exactly relaxed. And in more expensive areas, you pay significantly more for an apartment.

Don’t underestimate that. It has also become expensive in small towns, and apartments are not much cheaper than houses. Even in a rural district town like Sigmaringen, you’re now paying €3000/sqm. Plus additional costs. Yes, with a €1000 installment you can still manage something. But it’s not exactly relaxed. And in more expensive areas, you pay significantly more for an apartment

I don’t underestimate that. Apartments have the advantage that they still work with less than about 120 m2 of space and that they make better use of the limiting factor land or make it cheaper. But to stick with Sigmaringen: either you get a smaller apartment now than planned two years ago or you bite the bullet and buy the 4-room apartment with kitchen, bathroom, and balcony of 110 m2 for €350,000. With 2% repayment and 2.5% interest, that’s €1300 to the bank. And if you have some equity and limit yourself to only 3 rooms plus kitchen, bathroom, and balcony with 90 m2 at current prices, you’re looking at €250,000 or about €940 in installments. A first glance on Immoscout shows that these are roughly the market rents around Sigmaringen as well.

Just saying: the household income of the 90s was certainly earned by only one person, the other person was
mostly at home in the old federal states…
That it was then 38% of the household income I gladly believe…

what kind of
poorly
researched article is this again?!