Homeownership in Germany

Home ownership in Germany is lower overall than in most other European countries. In 2022, Germany's homeownership rate was 46.7%.{{cite web |title=Home ownership rate in selected European countries in 2017 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/246355/home-ownership-rate-in-europe/ |website=Statista |accessdate=24 June 2019}} During World War II, 2.25 million homes were destroyed with another two million damaged, reducing overall housing stocks by 20%. In 1949, West Germany enacted its first housing law and by 1961 had reduced its housing shortage from 5.5 million units to only 658,000. The mortgage market remained weak with banks requiring large downpayments from borrowers.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/mar/19/brits-buy-germans-rent|title=Brits buy homes, the Germans rent – which of us has got it right? | Money|website=The Guardian |author= Palmer, Jon |date=March 19, 2011 |accessdate=August 24, 2019 }}

Germany has comparatively low rental prices and a high proportion of rent controlled units. The German government does not deduct mortgage interest payments from taxes.{{cite web|url=https://qz.com/167887/germany-has-one-of-the-worlds-lowest-homeownership-rates/|title=Most Germans don't buy their homes, they rent. Here's why |website=Quartz |author=Phillips, Matt |date=January 24, 2014 |accessdate=August 24, 2019 }} In the 2000s, Germany reduced government subsidies for homeownership.{{Cite journal |last=Reisenbichler |first=Alexander |date=2022 |title=Entrenchment or Retrenchment: The Political Economy of Mortgage Debt Subsidies in the United States and Germany |url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/cuny/cp/2022/00000054/00000004/art00007 |journal=Comparative Politics |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=717–740 |doi=10.5129/001041522X16314500561319|s2cid=239878271 }}