German Mortgage Lending Stays Sluggish in May
The volume of new German mortgages in May 2023 remains around 50% down on the same period last year. It is, however, up 5.1% compared to April 2023, which is slightly better than the usual seasonal trend.
Total new mortgage business of €13.7bn in May 2023 is the worst reading for any May since 2005. Looking at SCHUFA requests there may be some hope for an improvement in June. This would be in line with the marginally more optimistic view recently expressed by German savings banks.