Number of German foreclosures continues to fall in buoyant market

The number of foreclosures and forced auctions in Germany continued to fall in the first half of 2021 against a background of a continuing strong residential market and ongoing Corona-induced government support, according to the latest report from specialist tracker Argetra Verlag.

A total of 6,432 properties across Germany were foreclosed upon in the period, valued at €1.4bn. About half of these ended up in court proceedings, with the rest being sold by private treaty beforehand. The corresponding figure last year was 7,300 properties, valued at €1.6bn.

The average price achieved at auction was €221,091 compared to a price of €214,031 in 2020. Two thirds of the auctions dealt with apartments, multi-family houses and single-family houses. The cities with the highest per capita number of foreclosures was Chemnitz, followed by Leipzig, Berlin and Duisburg.