The current issue of the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report reports that German economic output was lower in the fourth quarter of 2022 than in the previous quarter. According to the Federal Statistical Office’s flash estimate, real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 0.2% on the quarter after seasonal adjustment. The Bundesbank’s experts are expecting yet another fall in economic output in the first quarter of 2023. The inflation rate is expected to continue to decline in the coming months, but underlying price pressure will remain high.

According to the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report, the rise in financing costs and high inflation had a strong impact on the German housing market. Prices for residential real estate continued to rise up until the middle of 2022, but in the second half of the year fell quite significantly for the first time in a long time. By contrast, price pressures came from the massive increase in construction prices and the slow pace of the expansion of housing supply. Residential real estate in Germany continued to be overvalued on an annual average overall.