Is building a house currently affordable or should one wait and save?

Thank you very much in advance for the answers.
As recommended by

The first thing is to find a plot of land.
The development plan then shows you what and if anything can be built at all.
If you already know the location, a friendly classified ad in the local paper might help, your seller might not even have an Immoscout account if they are over 80. There are experiences in the commuter belt of Berlin in the forum, so there will certainly be a tip regarding a house company.

we have now placed an ad in the newspaper.

With these salaries, I would indeed see that your wife works more hours than you.
That is wasted potential.

The number of hours is supposed to go up again, but that will only work if we get more daycare hours and unfortunately that does not look likely at the moment. That is why we prefer to calculate based on the current situation and not on the higher number of hours.

Although I would also only calculate with 3000€/sqm, there are additional construction-related costs plus outdoor facilities. Also the purchase incidental costs of the plot.

In the cost breakdown, I miss the savings rate for a new car (buffer savings) as well as the later incidental costs for the house – the payment to the bank is not the only one.

You can actually save on the plot by dividing it into semi-detached houses. Possibly a young used property (semi-detached, terraced house) would also be an option for you?

A young used property would also be an option; however, the KfW loan is only available for the 40 standard and most houses unfortunately do not meet this standard. Otherwise, we would have very much liked to buy a finished house. That would definitely be less stressful. I will add the missing costs to my calculation. I had not really thought about them much, but it makes sense to include them.

A young used property would also be an option, however, the KfW loan is only available for the 40s standard and most houses unfortunately do not meet this standard.

The new building is so expensive that it only "pays off" with KfW. The used property - unless this means a house from this decade - is so much cheaper that you don't need any subsidy at all.

The new building is so expensive that it only "pays off" with KfW funding. The used property – unless it means a house from this decade – is so much cheaper that you don’t need any subsidy at all.

In fact, that is only half true. Houses that are less than 30 years old cost from €520,000 upwards according to Immoscout. That would only be a minimal saving without any chance of funding. Otherwise, there are only houses from before 1960, and they actually cost only between €350,000 and €450,000, but with correspondingly poor condition and equipment. We would then have to invest a lot of money. I can hardly imagine that we would come out cheaper that way, but I also don’t know much about it.

The houses that are under 30 years old cost from €520,000 upwards according to Immoscout.

I would double-check whether your key data in the search are similar and not compare apples with oranges just to justify a new build. I think no one here is advising you to go for 1000 sqm with a 160 sqm house, but rather a nice terraced house from around 2020 with about 130 sqm living space.

Actually, that is only half true. The houses that are under 30 years old cost from €520,000 upwards according to Immoscout. That would only be a minimal saving without a chance of funding.

OK. With a 500 sqm plot and approx. €400 standard land value, only €320,000 remain for the house. From that, you subtract the outdoor facilities, garage, ancillary construction costs, etc.
Then somewhere between €200,000 and €250,000 remain for the house. For that money today, you get a new build of 60-80 sqm.

So really that expensive?

The classic, analogous in my circle of friends:

Preference: Older houses are not for me, it has to be the top building standard with insulation, heat pump, underfloor heating (in a German major city). I have no time / am not suited for doing work myself.
Situation: (Above)-average income, but little equity
Quintessence: You can't afford a property in Germany!!

Well, either the money is enough for the magic triangle: top house in top location with top plot, or you have to make compromises somewhere like almost all of us. Either on the tiny plot, the age of the house, or the location.