Does the real estate market increasingly force more families to build?

Actually, we would prefer to avoid building. Unfortunately, existing properties within a 20 km radius have become quite expensive, and affordable rental houses with small gardens are simply scarce.

So far, we have been living in an old rental apartment without a garden. We would like to change that, but there is a lack of supply. The search ads on various platforms are overcrowded with families wanting affordable housing.

Who is familiar with this situation and how do you deal with it?

Join in or leave it ... I notice that my colleagues from Frankfurt are moving further out and accepting the commute. Because it’s cheaper there. Not the house shell but the plots of land. I was laughed at 6 years ago because I moved out too, but with a connection to home. Now they’re all doing it. Well, prices were different 6 years ago and I will refinance this summer due to a fortunate circumstance. Now I’m laughing. So if the pressure to live is so immense, you can’t force cheap rents or purchase prices.

I am quite annoyed that people assume they have a right to receive an offer for whatever.

Either wait and see if it maybe gets cheaper someday, or swallow the price toad, or just move to the outskirts. Commuting doesn’t have to be bad now. My husband’s coworkers drive 50 km to work. My neighbor works in [Ffm] – that’s at least 60 km plus some.
For us it’s 25 km for my husband, and I work from home, i.e. 2 m commute.
I find 25 km (especially when driven counter-cyclically like we do) absolutely OK. You need less time for these 25 km than to get from A to B within the city. Sometimes it already takes 45 minutes for 3-5 km – counting public transport!
You may have more km, but after all there is the commuter allowance. And with 50 km daily commute, travel costs won’t kill you either. In our example the “fuel” costs (i.e. electricity + battery rental) are just as high as the price for a public transport ticket within the city.

Besides the fact that I wouldn’t voluntarily move into the city anymore (I just hate the living feel in the city), you get significantly cheaper housing outside as well.

Luckily we were early enough with the house purchase. Not thinking long and hesitating was my motto, but as soon as the bank goes from shaking their head to a slight nod, you buy. That way we avoided the price explosion (and still benefit from today’s super low interest rates).
The best thing is simply to snatch a bargain today (there are still some!), maybe a few meters outside, and thus have escaped the renting madness. That will surely continue in the future, because to reverse the price development, quite a few things would have to happen which are rather unlikely.

Who knows this situation and how do you deal with it?

We know it from the Cologne/Düsseldorf area. Now you actually don’t want to build. The alternative to advertisements is an active and engaged participation in public life in the region. Of course, that has to suit you. Those who get involved and contribute can also benefit with a higher probability. It is a give and take.
It may very well be that our terraced house in the Düsseldorf commuter belt will be sold in summer without ever appearing in an advertisement or with an agent. If you want to get to such opportunities, you need connections.

I agree with hampshire. There are also various plots of land and houses for sale here that do not appear on the Internet or in the newspaper or anywhere else. There is only a sign with a phone number or email address, or they are sold directly among friends/acquaintances/acquaintances of friends.