KIEL (dpa-AFX) - According to findings of the Kiel-based economic research institute IfW, the slide in real estate prices has eased in many places - at least for the time being. "Compared to the first quarter of 2023, many prices are even slightly increasing again, however, still shows a significant minus compared to the previous year and the highs," reported the IfW on Thursday. The basis is the real estate index Greix, for which the scientists evaluate actual sales prices for real estate in 18 German cities. This makes the data particularly meaningful in comparison to the evaluation of sales advertisements.

Whether the trend will continue is uncertain in the view of IfW President Moritz Schularick. "After a historically so unusually strong and rapid price decline as we have seen, a phase of countermovement is quite normal, which could be followed by renewed price declines," Schularick said, according to the statement.

According to the IfW, house prices have initially overcome the phase of price correction and picked up again from the first to the second quarter. Prices for condominiums declined, but only slightly and varied greatly from region to region. Rising prices were also observed in individual cities. Compared with the previous quarter, the economists calculated a decrease of 0.3 percent for condominiums, an increase of 2.3 percent for single-family houses and a rise of 1.8 percent for multi-family houses. Compared with the same quarter last year, prices for condominiums were 9.9 percent lower. For single-family houses, it was 10.5 percent and for multi-family houses 20.9 percent.

Prices for condominiums in Germany's top 7 metropolitan areas (Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt/Main, Hamburg, Koln, Munich, Stuttgart) actually increased in some cases compared with the previous quarter, the IfW economists report. The outlier on the downside is Hamburg, where prices fell by 3.9 percent. The second strongest price decline was recorded in Frankfurt with minus 0.9 percent. In Düsseldorf (plus 2.9 percent) and Berlin (plus 1.3 percent), prices for condominiums rose again./kf/DP/mis