Why are UK house prices so much higher than in Germany?

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

toby3000 wrote: »

snip

Sources:

Population decline, however, is not limited to eastern Germany; it is a nationwide trend.

Fertility rates on both sides of the wall fell to 1.4 children per woman during the 1970s. Thirty years of low fertility are now taking their toll on German demographics.

Germany's population officially began to decrease in 2003, and is set to drop to between 69 and 71 million people by 2050, down from around 82 million today.
http://knowledge.allianz.com/en/globalissues/demographic_profiles/germany/germany_demographic_profile.html

Germany's population has been declining since 2003.

Social factors, rather than natural factors, and the rise in the number of Germans leaving Germany, are the principal cause.

The number of Germans entering Germany peaked at 310,000 in 1994, and thereafter began to decline, falling to 130,000 in 2005. Meanwhile, the number of Germans leaving Germany began rising in 2003, from around 110,000 to 140,000 in 2005. The net number of Germans entering Germany peaked at 310,000 in 1990 and thereafter began to decline, reaching –20,000 (an emigration surplus) in 2005. The trend reflects harsh conditions on the employment front.

A breakdown by age reveals that the number of people aged 25-39, who form the core of the workforce, has fallen, while a breakdown by region indicates that the situation is particularly bad in the former West Germany, especially the two southern states, which are the center of growth.
http://www.jri.co.jp/english/release/2006/060925/

Population decline rate by percentage:

Germany 2009 decline rate 0.053% per year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_decline

......

1984ReturnsForReal_2

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Sources:



Population decline rate by percentage:

Germany 2009 decline rate 0.053% per year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_decline




......

That is over a staggering 1% every 20 years :eek:

carolt

Hamish, your quote here, seemed rather curious:

"Germany's population has been declining since 2003.

Social factors, rather than natural factors, and the rise in the number of Germans leaving Germany, are the principal cause.

The number of Germans entering Germany peaked at 310,000 in 1994, and thereafter began to decline, falling to 130,000 in 2005. Meanwhile, the number of Germans leaving Germany began rising in 2003, from around 110,000 to 140,000 in 2005. The net number of Germans entering Germany peaked at 310,000 in 1990 and thereafter began to decline, reaching –20,000 (an emigration surplus) in 2005. The trend reflects harsh conditions on the employment front.

A breakdown by age reveals that the number of people aged 25-39, who form the core of the workforce, has fallen, while a breakdown by region indicates that the situation is particularly bad in the former West Germany, especially the two southern states, which are the center of growth.
http://www.jri.co.jp/english/release/2006/060925/"


This article seems to be almost stuck in the 1930s, in terms of its attitide to those who make up the population = only 'Germans' seem to count. So immigrants are not, as far as I can see, included at all. Millions of Turks etc are irrelevant, as they are not ethnic Germans. But of course they do need houses!

So this source doesn't seem to add much to the debate.

toby3000

Well I stand corrected!

HOWEVER, my broader point was that house prices are not a simple supply-demand mechanism, and there are lots of cultural factors that have resulted in Germans having lower house prices.

Off-Topic, but I don't think it's of any use to project current population figures 40 years into the future. I have no doubt that the "native" population of most European countries will continue to fall, but I also think that the population will have to get over their prejudices and accept a freer movement of people from the developing world.

Degenerate

GDB2222 wrote: »

Ah, so there I was thinking it's a good idea if domestic consumption is less than production. But in fact, the more we borrow for day-to-day consumption, the stronger our economy is? Shockingly stupid of me not to see this before.

If every country in the world was a net exporter, who would they all export to?

Bullfighter

I see that chucky has given up his ridiculous claim that Berlin isn't the capital of Germany.

chucky

drc wrote: »

Probably because Berlin IS the capital of Germany. It used to be Bonn but not for several years now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin

i thank you

for some that are still caught in their time warp and still believe that you will be able to buy a property on a single income x3 must think we're still in July 1988 when the capital was actually Bonn.

and for the time warped delusionals... you missed the point in your enthusiasm. better luck next time

Bullfighter wrote: »

I see that chucky has given up his ridiculous claim that Berlin isn't the capital of Germany.

carolt wrote: »

I know this has already been picked up by another poster, but just had to quote this.

So chucky, to all those of us who imagined that Berlin had been the capital of a reunified Germany for many years now please explain exactly where you think the capital is?

shortchanged wrote: »

and the correct answer is?

Thrugelmir

GDB2222 wrote: »

Many Germans do rent, that is true. Also, there are rent controls in place, making BTL rather unattractive. Overall, it works rather well at preventing huge amounts of capital being sucked into property.

Much of it is to do with post war regeneration. Much of Germany was flattened literally. So under the Marshall plan in Western Germany much of the money was directed in this direction. To provide reasonable cost sustainable housing.

If you visit old East Germany you'll find much of the housing no better than the tenement blocks that use to form the poorer areas of Glasgow. All concrete , no colour at all. Hardly places that one would want to live in , let alone invest in.

adouglasmhor

chucky wrote: »

why is the grass always greener on the other side by the people that think that the capital city of Germany is Berlin...

It is Berlin.

And Germans can get multi life mortgages, you can pass on your mortgage to your kids after an interest only mortgage, 50 years or 75 years are common and 150 years is not unheard off.

neverdespairgirl

Heavy rent control in Germany, and significant taxes for short-term ownership.