Is a single-family house in the Stuttgart metropolitan area still affordable?

Why "pull in"? We got our loan largely from our parents. We pay 0.01 percent interest, so nothing. Since the money was previously lying around in an Ing-Diba extrabank account, it is even better for the other side than before. Can't see the problem with that.

I think Ybias78 has a different personal attitude towards "self-made." Although I have to say that with today's amounts, the interest (i.e. the gift from the parents) no longer weighs so heavily. Much more critical, beyond the envy discussion about wealth and family gifts, is that in my opinion one of the central promises of the state for the middle class no longer applies: Work hard & in good professions, educate yourself and you can afford a nice house/apartment for your family. We are getting a — no matter what you do, if you haven't inherited something or otherwise come into a lot of capital, you are left out — almost everywhere, even in the relative provinces of metropolitan regions.

can you define the Stuttgart metropolitan area more precisely?
Just as a comparison:
My wife and I are 29. Before we had children, our income was slightly higher than your current one. Now we are having a second child, which means that my wife has had only €1,800 instead of €3.x00 income for more than a year. A payment of your targeted €3,000 would be unthinkable for us. Of course it works with two full salaries, but often you build a house with a desire to have children. Then it gets pretty tight, or in my opinion impossible for you.

I would disagree with you to the extent that at 29, as a career starter, you might still be able to make salary jumps.
But of course, you can't firmly plan on that.

I still stick to all the statements like, "you can't live on so little."
Let's calculate 1800 + 3700 (probably the husband's higher net income than before, since total income has decreased).
So €5,500. If €3,000 installment goes away, you have €2,500 left.
Why can so many people here not live on €2,500/month, already excluding the cold rent? For a staggering 2-3 years of parental leave only!
How does that add up, when the average German household has €3,300 net and still has to pay the cold rent from that?
Where is my thinking error?

I would disagree with you to the extent that at 29, as a career starter, you might still be able to make salary jumps. But of course, you cannot plan on that for sure. I still stick to all the statements, "you can't live on so little." Let's calculate 1800 + 3700 (probably higher net income of the man than before, since total income decreased). So 5500€. If 3000€ rate goes away, you have 2500€ left. Why can so many people here not live on 2500€/month, already minus the cold rent? For a whopping 2-3 years of parental leave even! How does that add up when the average German household has 3300 net and still has to pay the cold rent from that? Where is my thinking error?

Well... living on that is definitely possible. But you can't save much during that time either. If it really is only during parental leave: fine. But what if the child was born in January and you don’t want to put them in daycare before 1 year? The daycare year probably starts everywhere in August. You only get mid-year spots here with a lot of luck. Most mothers stay a few more months in parental leave until the next August. Income: 0 Euro! We will soon have 6k net household income. Rate 1500 Euro, additional costs 500 Euro. That leaves 4000 to live on. Minus insurance, 2 cars, savings for vacation, etc. about 2000 Euro remain to save. The savings rate goes into an account as security. If little to nothing is taken from it by the end of the year, a big chunk goes into extra repayments (calculated down to over 1000 Euro per month). We find that much better than just setting the rate directly to 2500 Euro. The 2500 MUST be paid. Nothing unforeseen may happen there. In our view, going via extra repayments makes more sense. But we are financially completely independent from our parents. We plan everything so that we would never have to ask them under any circumstances. I did that at 20. In my mid-30s that stops.

I think Ybias78 has a different personal attitude towards "self-made". Although I must say that with today's amounts, the interest (i.e. here the gift from the parents) no longer weighs as heavily. Much more critical to me, beyond the envy discussion about wealth and family gifts, is that one of the central promises of the state for the middle class no longer applies, in my opinion: Work hard & in good jobs, continue your education and you can afford a nice house/apartment for your family. We get a - no matter what you do, if you haven't inherited something or otherwise come into a lot of capital, you are left out - almost everywhere, even in the relative provinces of the metropolitan regions.

Yes, there is a lot of truth to that! On the other hand, for example, neither my parents nor my husband's parents had exceptionally good jobs or any extraordinary luck through family-owned properties or the like. Simply exactly the honest hard work you write about AND FRUGALITY!! The argument "earning it yourself" personally does not interest me at all. I also work hard, live frugally and appreciate the value of things. Still, I am simply very happy and grateful that thanks to our parents, we will be debt-free in 10 years instead of 25 or 30. And afterwards, we will invest the then free income into our children's education and hopefully also be able to support them as planned in purchasing real estate. That would make me happy if it works out that way. I personally only know: - Case a: Parents have money -> Child gets something for the house - Case b: Parents don't have much -> Child logically gets nothing. I do not know case c "Parents have money and the child still gets no support/does not want support with the house purchase." But maybe overall it is simply not possible to want a house with roller shutters, Kfw40 standard, double garage... but at the same time go out to eat every week, travel around the world, drive 2 new cars, buy brand clothes.... But still, overall, the current prices are frustrating, I do feel that too.

well..you can get by well on it. But you can’t save much during that time either. If it’s really only during parental leave: good. But what if the child was born in January and you don’t want to put them in daycare before age 1? The daycare year probably starts everywhere in August. You only get mid-year spots here with a lot of luck. Most mothers stay in parental leave until the next August for a few more months. Income: 0 Euro!

We will soon have a net household income of 6k. Payment 1500 Euro, utilities 500 Euro. That leaves 4000 for living. Minus insurance, 2 cars, savings for vacation, etc., about 2000 Euro remain to save.

The savings rate goes to an account as security. If little to nothing is withdrawn by the end of the year, a big chunk goes into special repayment (calculated down to over 1000 Euro per month). We find that much better than increasing the payment directly to 2500 Euro.

The 2500 MUST be paid. Nothing unforeseen must happen. We think it makes more sense to go via special repayment. But we are financially completely independent from our parents. We plan everything so that we never have to ask them. I did that at 20. At mid-30s it’s over with that.

That all sounds logical. We also don’t have the payment so high to avoid pressure. Nevertheless, we want to save additionally in your dimension and then do special repayments/have a buffer/fully pay off the loan at the end of 10 years.

You’re right about daycare; it should be taken into account. Our second was born in December and the earliest daycare start is now in September at 21 months.

But still, overall the current prices are frustrating, that's how I feel about it.

Well - who read it today? In many media: highest land prices in Germany ever: 190 euros/sqm!!! I had to grin. The Bavarians must have definitely laughed/ cried out loud. In other words: you just have to buy in the right area. It also always depends on whether you have the right job in the right area. Southern Germany is expensive, but earnings are good too. You only get nothing from that if you are a federal civil servant. In Munich you earn the same as in the deepest Brandenburg. Beelitz or something. In Brandenburg you are a top earner, in Munich a social case. But a lot is changing right now. The question is, how important is it still in the next decades to have a house so close to the city? Isn't it also okay to live 50 km outside if you only have to commute to the office 1-2 times a week? Maybe you can even live somewhere completely different? That would personally be an option for me. I have 3 days of home office per week. The other two days mostly business trips within Germany. Actually, it doesn’t matter whether I live in the Düsseldorf area or in Thuringia. Of course, Bavaria is always nice and will remain popular and therefore expensive.