ifo Dresden berichtet 3/2017

Specifics of the East German Housing Market - Part 1: Spatial Differences

In this paper, spatial differences in the development of vacancies on the East German housing market are presented. The censuses survey conducted in 2011 attests to a high vacancy rate in eastern Germany, which will continue to rise in the future. However, vacancy rates vary greatly from region to region. There is currently price pressure on residential space in many urban areas, especially in Berlin, while high vacancy rates in peripheral regions are leading to a decline in property values. As a result, housing policy faces a wide variety of challenges: While the promotion of new housing construction will be of secondary importance for large parts of Germany, it is important to develop solutions for the increasing vacancy in cities and municipalities with stagnating or even declining populations.

Fritzsche, Carolin and Vandrei, Lars