Germany builds 14% fewer apartments in 2024, falling short of government goals

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The number of apartments built in Germany dropped sharply in 2024, federal statistics office data showed on Friday, a further sign of stress in the nation’s troubled real estate industry.

The number of apartments completed was 251,900, down 14.4% from 2023 and far below government aims of building 400,000 apartments a year.

Germany’s property sector hit hard times in 2022, as higher interest rates made borrowing costly. That resulted in falling prices, and it tipped some property firms into insolvency.

(Reporting by Tom Sims, Editing by Friederike Heine and Ludwig Burger)