In Germany, over two million apartments are lying vacant

Berlin - In Germany, more than two million apartments are lying empty. While there is a shortage in many large cities, the number of such apartments that no one is interested in is increasing in smaller towns and villages. This is according to a study by the Federal Institute for Research on Building and Urban Development, as reported by the Süddeutsche Zeitung today.

According to the study, the number of vacant apartments has increased by more than 200,000 in the last five years. In percentage terms, this represents an increase from 4.5 percent to 5.1 percent of the total over the same period.

The highest number of vacant apartments is found in the former East German states - Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. In some districts there, more than 15 percent of all apartments are empty.

On the other hand, large cities like Berlin face the opposite problem, where around 40,000 residents are added each year, leading to a shortage of apartments and rising prices. Experts have particularly noted a significant increase in the population of large and university cities since 2006. This is also contributed to by the large number of immigrants arriving in Germany.

In addition to significantly different apartment prices, the disparities in occupancy are also reflected in land prices. While in some former East German states it is possible to buy a square meter of building land for ten euros (270 CZK), in Düsseldorf a square meter costs around 700 euros (18,900 CZK) and in Munich as much as 1200 euros (32,400 CZK).