According to a survey conducted nationwide in March 2022 by the real estate financing broker Engel & Völkers Finance among 1,500 people aged 18 and over, 80 percent of those surveyed dream of owning their own home. At the same time, however, the survey also revealed that the majority of those surveyed consider this dream to be unattainable.
According to Engel & Völkers Finance, 47 percent of the people surveyed who did not own their own home said they had too little equity to buy their own house or apartment, and 37 percent were of the opinion that their income situation would not allow them to buy real estate.
The situation is similar when it comes to financing your own property. As the “DFPA” writes with reference to the survey, 62 percent of the people surveyed said that real estate financing would only be possible for them if they had previously received an inheritance or gift. 53 percent said they would have to raise financing with little or no equity.
Full financing is becoming more difficult, but some worries are unfounded
Some of the concerns about real estate financing are unfounded, according to Rebecca Scheidler, Managing Director of Engel & Völkers Finance Germany GmbH, in a blog entry on the Engel & Völkers website. “In discussions, we find time and again that our own financing framework is estimated to be lower than it actually is. This concern is also confirmed by our survey,” says Scheidler. She described the fact that 20 percent of the purchase price should be paid from one’s own funds when buying a property as a rumor that persists. “Depending on the individual situation, there is even the possibility of implementing a so-called 100 percent plus financing, i.e. the purchase price and the[{” attribute=””>Kaufnebenkosten zu finanzieren“, so die Expertin.
Laut „DFPA“ schränkte Scheidler aber ein, dass eine Vollfinanzierung „in der aktuellen Situation aufgrund der Inflation, der gestiegenen Darlehenszinsen und der gestiegenen Baukosten […] difficult for many people” as banks are becoming increasingly restrictive on lending. Financing without any equity is only approved if other factors have a positive impact on creditworthiness.
Potential property owners willing to make compromises
In order to hold the key to their own property in their hands one day, according to “DFPA”, many of the survey participants are quite willing to make compromises – both in their lives and in relation to their own home.
43 percent of those surveyed would forego vacation trips, and around half would no longer buy an expensive car or expensive furnishings. 45 percent or almost two-thirds of those surveyed would also cut back on the purchase of electronic devices or expensive clothing.
If this reduced the purchase price and made real estate financing affordable, around 40 percent would also accept a less good location. 34 percent of the people surveyed by Engel & Völkers Finance would even choose a terraced house or even an apartment instead of a detached house if they could buy their own home that way.
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