Building rates are rising. And strong. Anyone who borrows money for real estate financing today has to shell out more than 3 percent interest for the first time in more than ten years. And that should not be the end of the road.
Loans for real estate buyers in Germany are becoming more and more expensive. The average effective interest rate for ten-year financing rose above the 3 percent mark for the first time in more than ten years this Wednesday, as announced by the Frankfurt-based FMH financial consultancy. Interest rates of more than 3 percent for ten-year construction loans were last seen on April 5, 2012.
The most recent increase in interest rates since June 7 was "particularly extreme" with a jump from 2.79 to 3.02 percent in one week. The trigger is probably the high inflation and the announcement by the European Central Bank that it will raise key interest rates.
Loans for real estate buyers are likely to become more expensive, FMH founder Max Herbst expects. In April he thought 4 percent interest for ten-year financing until the end of the year was conceivable. That is now conceivable “after the summer break”. Interest rates have risen sharply in recent months. In December, the interest rate for ten-year financing was still 0.9 percent.
The reason for the rising construction interest is the generally rising interest rate level on the capital markets. Because of the high inflation, central banks are under pressure to tighten their loose monetary policy. The US Federal Reserve will decide on further steps this Wednesday. A rate hike of at least 0.5 percentage points to a range of 1.25 to 1.5 percent is expected.
After much hesitation, the European Central Bank (ECB) has also decided to exit its ultra-loose monetary policy: the multi-billion dollar bond purchases will end on July 1st. At the latest at the next regular meeting of the ECB Council on July 21, the central bank intends to raise key interest rates again for the first time in eleven years, initially by 0.25 percentage points each time. However, the Governing Council of the ECB is holding an extraordinary council meeting this Wednesday.
Compare the conditions for building money here.
(This article was first published on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.)
