The upward pressure on house prices in 127 German towns and cities remained virtually unchanged in 2020. Prices for residential properties in urban areas rose by 6¼ per cent year on year in 2020, the same rate as in 2019. This is the outcome of Bundesbank calculations based on data provided by bulwiengesa AG.

In Germany’s seven largest cities – Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart – inflation barely increased on the year: here, prices rose by 7 per cent compared with 2019. The rate of price increase in the metropolitan areas was consequently slightly greater than in the 127 towns and cities as a whole.

In 2020, the rise in rents for new lettings was slightly weaker than in the preceding year. Rents in the 127 towns and cities rose by 2¼ per cent, compared with 3 per cent in the previous year. In the seven largest German cities, the increase was 2½ per cent, compared with 2¾ per cent in 2019.