vdp index: Residential property price growth dampens in top 7 cities
- vdp property price index up by 7% against first quarter of 2018
- Residential properties: buyers and renters instead turn to surrounding areas; prices as an average for Germany rise more strongly than in top 7 cities
- Commercial properties: significant rise in office property prices; retail-sector rents and capital values again fall slightly
The property price index of the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks (vdp), which is calculated on the basis of real transaction data for the market as a whole, advanced by 7% in the first quarter of 2019 year-on-year (Q1 2018: 8.8%). However, the sub-indices comprised in the overall index developed in very different ways.
Residential property market
Residential property prices rose by 7% as an average for Germany as a whole in the first quarter of 2019 (Q1 2018: 9.2%). In Germany’s top 7 cities (Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Munich and Stuttgart), housing prices went up by 5.6% compared with the corresponding quarter one year earlier (Q1 2018: 13.1%). The slowing price growth momentum is clearly noticeable in this segment.
“The price and rent levels reached in the housing market in the top 7 cities to date make it much more difficult to achieve the price growth seen in recent years. As a result, buyers and renters are turning to the surrounding areas. This is also reflected in the comparatively more dynamic price growth as an average for Germany as a whole,” said Jens Tolckmitt, Chief Executive of the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks (vdp).
Commercial property market
Commercial properties went up in price by 6.7% in the first quarter of 2019 (Q1 2018: 7.4%). The difference in trend between office and retail properties observed since the end of 2018 continued. Thus, office property prices rose by 10.2%, while the corresponding index for retail properties edged down by 0.2%.
About the vdp property price index
The Association of German Pfandbrief Banks publishes, based on concrete transaction figures, quarterly rent and price indices showing trends on the German residential and commercial real estate markets. Prepared by the analyst firm vdpResearch, the index is used by the Deutsche Bundesbank as part of its property price monitoring activities. Over 600 credit institutions operating in the German financial sector supply transaction data (purchase prices and rents actually achieved) on their real estate finance business, and it is these data that form the basis of the index.
Information on developments in the respective sub-markets as well as all index data on the individual vdp property price indices (2003-2018) may be found in the relevant publication and are also available as raw data at www.pfandbrief.de. Moreover, vdpResearch provides a detailed assessment of the regional top 7 housing markets including all sub-segments (owner-occupied housing and multi-family houses) at www.vdpresearch.de.