The dream of owning your own four walls is a significant cost factor for students in many cities. This year, too, the prices for rooms in shared apartments have risen sharply to an average of 435 euros. It is most expensive in Munich. But even living in the capital is no longer available at a bargain price.
According to an evaluation, students now have to put significantly more money on the table for a shared room in a German university town compared to the previous year. With an average of 435 euros per month, a room costs 44 euros per month more than a year ago. This emerges from a study by the Moses Mendelssohn Institute in cooperation with the real estate portal WG-Gesucht.de.
The room offers directly available in the second half of August on the portal WG-Gesucht.de in all 95 German university towns with at least 5000 students were evaluated. A shared room in Munich, the most expensive university location, costs an average of 700 euros - in the previous year it was 620 euros here. In Frankfurt, the price rose from 520 to 580 euros, in Berlin from 495 to 550 euros.
It is particularly cheap to live in the east of the country. Shared rooms were available in Chemnitz in August for an average of 250 euros, an increase of 14 euros compared to the previous year. In Cottbus, the average room cost 300 euros.
The partly strong price increases this year are explained by catch-up effects. "For two years, the corona pandemic caused prices to move sideways for new rentals," said Stefan Brauckmann, Managing Director at the Moses Mendelssohn Institute. "That's over now. In 89 of the 95 cities on the list of university cities, rooms in a shared flat are now more expensive than they were in 2021." Already at the beginning of the year there were signs that the market was "moving considerably".
Students made up for moves that they would have put on hold because of the pandemic, others extended their studies because of the Corona failures. "So many apartments will be free later, the shortage is getting worse." International students are now catching up on semesters abroad in Germany. With the same effect.
A long-term view shows how much the prices for shared rooms have increased, especially in the big cities. In the capital in 2013, at the beginning of this market observation, rooms were still available for an average of 335 euros - now for 550 - or in Munich for 499 - now for 700.
