Residential property prices in Germany increased by an average of 1.4% in the first quarter of the year compared to the same quarter last year, according to data released by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday. This represents a deceleration from the previous quarter, where prices had risen by 0.3%, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of declining price growth.
When looking at condominiums, buyers paid 3.6% more in sparsely populated rural areas compared to the same period last year. In major cities that are not among the top seven metropolitan areas, prices rose by 2.9% year-over-year. However, in the seven largest German cities-Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart, and Düsseldorf-the rate of price increase was lower, growing by only 0.3%. Conversely, in densely populated rural districts, a slight price decline of 0.4% was observed compared to the previous year.
For detached and semi-detached houses, the strongest year-over-year growth of 1.4% was registered in the top seven metropolitan areas, followed by non-top-seven major cities at 1.2%. In contrast, in sparsely populated rural districts, the average purchase price for these types of houses was 0.8% lower than it was in the first quarter of 2025. When comparing only to the previous quarter, real estate prices saw both increases in certain regions and decreases in others.
Regarding condominiums, urban districts saw the largest increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, rising by 0.9%. Prices also generally increased in other regions. Notably, there was no price change in non-top-seven major cities, and preliminary figures show that condo prices dropped by 2.3% in densely populated rural districts.
The decrease in prices for detached and semi-detached houses compared to the fourth quarter of 2025 was most pronounced in sparsely populated rural districts, falling by 0.8%. The strongest growth in this segment compared to the previous quarter was seen in major non-top-seven cities, with a rise of 0.6%.
Furthermore, with this latest publication, the Federal Statistical Office adjusted its figure for the national house price index for the fourth quarter of 2025 downwards by 0.4 percentage points. Instead of a 3.0% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, the actual change was only 2.6%.
