The number of involuntary property auctions (foreclosures) in Germany has continued to rise during the first half of 2025. A total of 7,240 properties were listed for auction, representing a 4.8 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to data from the specialist publisher Argetra. This firm regularly tracks the involuntary auction market in Germany, analyzing schedules from nearly 500 district courts nationwide.
While the total value of properties up for auction reached €2.23 billion, this represents only a 2.8 percent increase from the €2.17 billion recorded a year prior, indicating that properties were, on average, valued slightly lower. If this trend persists throughout 2025, Argetra estimates that around 14,500 properties could be subject to involuntary auctions, a 7.8 percent increase compared to the 13,445 properties auctioned in 2024.
This increase in foreclosures is occurring against a backdrop of a nascent economic recovery, rising property prices and a low inflation environment. The European Central Bank (ECB) recently lowered its key interest rate from 2.25 to 2.00 percent – the eighth consecutive reduction since June 2024, when the rate was initially reduced from 4.00 to 3.75 percent.
However, despite the ECB’s rate cuts implemented since the beginning of the year from 3.00 to 2.00 percent, construction loan rates have actually risen. Analysts note that the average interest rate for ten-year loans currently stands at approximately 3.5 percent, up from 3.3 percent six months ago, making mortgages more expensive for prospective homebuyers often needing to secure six-figure loans.
Current rates are considerably higher than those prevailing during the period of historically low interest rates from 2021 to 2022, where ten-year mortgage rates ranged from 0.85 to 1.5 percent, loans which will require renewal financing in 2031 and 2032.
Looking at the number of scheduled auctions per 100,000 households, Thuringia has the highest number (32), nearly three times that of Bavaria (13). On average, across Germany, 18 out of 100,000 households (up from 17 in the previous year) were affected by scheduled auctions. Approximately 69 percent of properties facing foreclosure are residential properties, primarily single-family and two-family homes, followed by apartments. The remaining 31 percent comprises commercial properties, residential and commercial buildings, land parcels and other types of real estate.
Berlin exhibits the highest average transaction values, with listings averaging over €870,000 per property. Hamburg follows with an average of €840,000. Thuringia has the lowest average values at approximately €93,000. The nationwide average stands at €307,679, down from €314,028 in the prior year.
Among the forty cities with the highest number of auction schedules, Berlin is followed by Chemnitz, Munich, Leipzig and Zwickau. These forty locations, representing roughly 18 percent of the population, account for 30 percent of all property auctions and significantly more involuntary auctions than the national average. Recent additions to this list of involuntary auction hotspots include Würzburg, Gelsenkirchen, Celle, Kassel, Fürth (Bavaria) and Bad Kreuznach, while Landau/Pfalz, Gera, Gießen, Wuppertal, Stralsund and Karlsruhe have been removed from the list.
