German Mortgage Lending Remains Subdued
The volume of new German mortgages in June 2023 is still around 39% down on the same period last year. However, it is only marginally higher by 2% compared to May 2023, which is actually slightly worse than the usual seasonal trend.
The total new mortgage business of €14.0 bn in June 2023 is the worst value for a June since 2011. Looking at SCHUFA applications, there may be some hope for an improvement in July, but growth rates are becoming increasingly difficult to interpret.
There is a strong positive base effect at work, as last year’s comparables decline sharply until November 2022. Since then, the volume of new mortgages has barely changed, so the growth rate will converge to zero over time.