FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - High demand for living space, faltering new construction, property buyers waiting to buy: the pressure on the rental market in German metropolises has increased, according to a new study. In the first half of the year, asking rents in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Koln, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart and Leipzig climbed by an average of 6.7 percent, according to an analysis published on Tuesday by real estate specialist Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). In the same period last year, the rent increase had still amounted to 3.7 percent.

Thus the dynamics in the metropolises fell out recently more strongly than in district-free cities: There the offer rents for new buildings and inventory dwellings rose within twelve months by 2.7 per cent. In the districts, advertised rents climbed by 4.9 percent.

Asking rents rose particularly strongly in Berlin and Leipzig, where double-digit percentage increases were recorded, according to the study. In Berlin, there was a net influx of 86,000 people in 2022, while only a good 17,000 apartments were completed, JLL explained. Berlin's housing market was getting tighter, it added.

In the other metropolises, the rent increases were much more moderate, in Stuttgart, the offer rents even fell slightly. Offer rents do not yet mean deals, sometimes the agreed rent deviates from it - but this occurs less frequently than in the case of real estate purchases.

"In all the metropolises considered, there is an enormous supply shortage, which will be exacerbated by the faltering housing construction," said JLL residential real estate expert Roman Heidrich. "An end to rent increases is therefore not in sight." Pressure also comes from increased lending rates, which discouraged prospective buyers from buying real estate and pushed into the rental market, it said.

The study also shows how expensive housing is in the eight metropolitan areas. There rented apartments with 15,38 euro per square meter were offered on the average approximately 50 per cent more expensively than in circle-free cities (10 euro) and 79 per cent more expensively than in the districts (8,61 euro).

Meanwhile, purchase prices for new buildings and existing apartments remained under pressure. According to JLL, asking prices fell by 7 percent in the first half of the year, compared with an increase of 7.5 percent in the same period last year. While residential properties in Berlin became slightly more expensive, there were significant declines in all other metropolitan areas - most strongly in Munich, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf. In the metropolises, prices had risen sharply during the long real estate boom. According to JLL, prices fell significantly less recently in the independent cities (-5.2 percent) and districts (-2.2 percent).

Offer prices do not provide an accurate indication of the actual purchase price. "The property market reports of the expert committees, for which real purchase cases are evaluated, show in part significantly higher price discounts," said JLL expert Sebastian Grimm.

Prices for residential real estate in Germany have been falling for months. In the first quarter they fell according to the Federal Statistical Office by 6.8 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Figures for the second quarter are still pending./als/DP/mis