[ad_1]
After decades of continuous growth living spaces According to a study, there are signs of a trend reversal. For the first time since the surveys began, the average apartment size in Germany is stagnating and is likely to even shrink in the coming years, according to a study carried out by the Reuters news agency German Institute for Economic Research
(DIW).
Since 1965 alone, the average apartment size has increased from 69 to 94 square meters, by more than a third. At the same time, the living space per person more than doubled from almost 20 to a good 49 square meters.
But since around 2005, new apartments have been getting smaller again, the Berlin researchers found. This is gradually becoming noticeable in the inventory as well. By 2050, the average apartment will be around six square meters smaller than it is today and will be around 88.5 square meters.
Smaller households and high property prices
“Over decades, rising incomes and the desire for more comfort have led to our apartments becoming ever larger,” said DIW real estate expert and study author Konstantin Kholodilin. “But the growth phase seems to be over. The decline in new building sizes signals a structural change in the entire housing market.”
The reasons for this are smaller households and increased real estate prices. The development in Germany is similar to that in many other industrialized countries. In Belgium, Japan and Norway, new apartments had already become smaller on average around the turn of the millennium, and in France, Poland and Russia a few years later.
Still more large apartments
Demographic development is considered the main factor for the average apartment size. The proportion of Single-person households According to the DIW, in Germany it has doubled to 41 percent since the 1960s. In large cities like Berlin or Munich it is even around 50 percent.
The sharp increase in Real estate prices Since 2010 the development has worsened. Many people could no longer afford larger apartments. Small apartments are more economically attractive for property developers.
Although the average household size has shrunk significantly in recent decades, large apartments still dominate the stock. From this discrepancy, the DIW concludes that the housing market is facing an adjustment. “If new apartments become smaller, this is not a step backwards, but a necessary adjustment to social realities,” said co-author Sebastian Kohl. “Smaller, well-designed and energy-efficient apartments will be the central form of living of the future and they are a key to reducing the large energy requirements of the building sector.”
[ad_2]
