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

I do not understand the question. Why are people forced to build? Because existing properties are expensive? Then building is not cheaper. The price is simply determined by supply and demand.

Well, I'll break it down like this. Friends of ours live in Hamburg Rahlstedt in a 100 sqm condominium in an old villa. With a courtyard and parking space and carport system and some lawn and so on. Good area, not Elbchaussee but also not Barmbek Basch Habichtstrasse or even Jenfeld. Value now surely 600+. If something like that hasn't belonged to you for decades, but you want to rent something like that, if you can even find it, you have to expect rent of over 2000 per month. That would be 24 per year, and with a 600 value you'd still not have an exorbitant yield. And in fact, these rents are paid in Hamburg, and such lofts go quickly. If a family now wants to live somewhat nicer, who doesn't have access to a cooperative apartment or doesn't want to live in such a block, who is not dependent on living close to the city, but can live with commuting, they then look for a plot of land for example towards Lübeck, then also pay 160 thousand or even 200 for 500 sqm, expect to spend at least 300 on the house and so quickly spend around half a million in that area, if they had some equity and repay well, they'd be done with it in 25-30 years. Still cheaper than buying such a decent, well-located condominium like our friends have. The price is the commuter life, the morning stop and go at the Horner Kreisel, etc. Karsten

I don't understand the question.

It's not just about the price, but also about the selection. The limited offer often does not meet the wishes. Also not expensive. The OP simply can't find anything suitable. Of course, no one is forced to build, that's nonsense. Everyone is still responsible for their own requirements and ideas.

I can't help. But typically German is: "the market sets the price."

Nothing has stopped the state from building apartments. Except [schwarze Null] and privatization. It would have been possible to create apartments in large quantities and thereby push the price down. It was not wanted, it was against the lobby.

Well, now you have the mess.

Even in the [Pott], prices are slowly but surely running away.

I can understand the OP very well: we were also now "forced" to deal with the topic of house building. 10-year-old existing properties are going for prices far above the new price – just last week a [REH] from 2011 went for over 600,000 € plus 4.76% broker fees plus ancillary purchase costs here. These days, building is cheaper – however, the cities here in the new development areas are also pushing prices up so insanely through outrageous bidding procedures that you sometimes end up at 850 €/sqm. For a normal family, that is no longer affordable. We know enough people in our circle of friends who have been searching for plots and houses for years and simply cannot find anything.

Not only the balanced budget is to blame. No one forced cities to sell their apartments. The federal government alone is providing over 1500 million euros this year. Whether these funds will be drawn down, I do not know. Often, funding from the federal government or the states is not drawn because, for example, the municipality cannot cover its share. It is known that Berlin has no money and Munich also has a rather poor budget situation. If cities like Dresden sell their municipal housing, who is then supposed to build? Private investors who can charge higher rents without subsidies and do not have to accept every tenant?