Last year, investors had to pay a lot in the metropolises of Berlin and Hamburg: In the federal capital, the square meter of building land cost an average of 1328.48 euros, in Hamburg it was 1157.91 euros. In Bavaria, which is also comparatively expensive, the average price was 301.75 euros per square meter. The lowest average purchase values were in each case under 60 euros per square meter in the three eastern German states of Thuringia (49.67 euros), Saxony-Anhalt (52.19 euros) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (56.10 euros).
According to the findings of statisticians, the average purchase value increases with the size of the municipality. In municipalities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, an average of EUR 66.04 per square meter was paid. In the 14 largest cities in the republic with at least 500,000 inhabitants, it was a little more than 17 times as much: 1128.33 euros.
Construction overhang also at a record level
The high prices for building plots are related to the unabated construction boom. As announced on Tuesday, fewer building permits were issued in July than in the previous month, but 5.6 percent more apartments were approved for the year as a whole than in 2019. However, the Federal Statistical Office repeatedly points out that permits do not necessarily have to be quick lead to completed apartments: The number of building projects that have not started and are not completed has been increasing for several years.
At the end of last year, the so-called construction overhang of approved but not yet completed apartments was at a record level of 740,400 units. That was the highest level since 1998. At the current rate, the construction industry would therefore need more than two years to work off the excess.