German House Price Growth Slows to 0.6 Percent, a Fifth Straight Quarter of Deceleration
Prices of residential property in Germany rose 0.6 percent in the second quarter of 2026 from a year earlier, Destatis said on 24 September in provisional figures. Against the first quarter, prices rose 0.3 percent. On our calculation from the agency’s series, annual growth has now slowed in 5 consecutive quarters, since it peaked at 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2025. The latest series puts first-quarter 2026 growth at 1.2 percent, against 1.4 percent first published in June.
| Quarter | Change on a year earlier |
|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | 3.8% |
| Q2 2025 | 3.3% |
| Q3 2025 | 3.2% |
| Q4 2025 | 2.6% |
| Q1 2026 | 1.2% |
| Q2 2026 | 0.6% |
Destatis house price index, change on a year earlier. Q2 2026 is provisional.
A recovery losing speed, from a low base
The latest rate is the weakest since the third quarter of 2024, when prices were still 0.2 percent below a year earlier. The recovery followed a deep correction: annual declines reached 10.2 percent in the third quarter of 2023, after gains of 12.7 percent in the second half of 2021. On our calculation, chaining the second-quarter annual rates from 2023 to 2026 leaves prices in the second quarter of 2026 about 8 percent below their level in the second quarter of 2022.
Why it matters: Seven quarters of annual gains have not closed the gap left by the 2022 to 2023 correction, on our calculation. The quarterly gain of 0.3 percent shows prices still edging up, but the annual rate has lost more than 3 points since its peak.
Outlook: The third-quarter release will show whether annual price growth slows for a sixth consecutive quarter.
Sources: Destatis.
