That’s the situation on the market

The dream of owning a home in Germany has been associated with ever higher real estate prices in recent years. At the same time, however, interest rates for such loans were very low. That changed in 2022: In the second half of the year, real estate prices in Rhineland-Palatinate did not rise for the first time in ten years. What went up were interest rates, sometimes four times as much. How did customers in the Eifel and Vulkaneifel react to this new situation?

Jonathan Agneessens from Jonathan Agneessens Immobilien GmbH in Gerolstein reports that demand was at a record high last year. It is still there, but the purchase of real estate has become noticeably more expensive due to the rise in interest rates. “In January 2022 there was a mortgage with a ten-year bond at around one percent, a year later buyers have to pay almost four percent,” he reports. Equity of around 20 percent is again a prerequisite for getting a real estate loan. Despite everything, the well-kept, quiet, detached house is still a bestseller.

How does it look on the seller side? “Last year we had too little supply in relation to the demand, which usually led to a very short marketing period,” reports Jonathan Agneessens. Currently, many sellers are still cautious. However, that also has to do with the time of year. “We notice every year that sellers prefer to wait until spring to offer the house, with the conviction that they can present the house and garden more beautifully.”

According to Jonathan Agneessens’ experience, real estate prices are currently stagnating in the region. “It is now too early to make a serious assessment of further developments for 2023,” he wrote when asked by our newspaper. Here one is dependent on the further development of interest rates, the course of inflation, the Ukraine war and so on. Even leading real estate experts are far from unanimous here.

How does it look in the Eifel district? Hubert Franzen from Immobilien Franzen (Bitburg area and surroundings) reports that at the beginning of 2022 the offers were generally scarce. “Back then it was purely a seller’s market,” he says. Due to the changes in the real estate market, this has normalized again: “Supply and demand are balanced again.”

Especially in the area of ​​real estate with higher prices, the demand has decreased. There is also less demand for new buildings. There is greater interest in used properties – meaning no new buildings – in the middle price segment. In general, demand has fallen among interested parties who have to finance a lot. “It makes a difference whether you pay one percent interest or four,” says Hubert Franzen.

In view of the changed situation, sellers are also willing to grant discounts. The price level in Bitburg and the surrounding area is still high. But: “We are stagnating at the moment,” says Franzen. He also does not assume that prices will continue to rise in 2023.

However, Hubert Franzen suspects a stronger demand for rental apartments, since people who actually wanted to buy something delayed it and first looked for rental properties. This development is not only in the Eifel, but throughout Germany: As the German Press Agency recently reported, higher demand in the rental sector and the associated higher rents are observed and expected nationwide.

Brokers from the district of Bernkastel-Wittlich also report falling demand and a price increase that has almost ended. In the past year there was particular demand for age-appropriate and barrier-free new apartments, and in view of the energy crisis, buyers also valued innovative heating technology. Another expectation for the New Year is greater demand for rental housing.