The desire for homeownership is once again growing significantly in Germany. This is shown by the latest summer 2026 survey conducted by the Association of Private Building Societies. According to the survey, 38.8 per cent of respondents now cite buying or renovating of a home as a savings goal. A year ago, the figure was just 33.0 per cent, whilst in spring 2026 it had already risen to 36.4 per cent. The upward trend is continuing. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that, among the most important saving goals, home ownership is the only one that has become even more important compared with the previous survey. The results show that, despite the economic challenges, the desire to own one’s own home remains as strong as ever for many people.
Home ownership now ranks third in the list of the most important savings goals. Retirement provision remains in first place, cited by 57.7 per cent of respondents. This is followed by consumption and major purchases at 43.1 per cent. Investment is cited by 34.8 per cent. Multiple answers were permitted. The rise in the importance of home ownership is all the more remarkable given that the proportion has increased by 5.8 percentage points in the space of just one year.
At the same time, the survey makes it clear that there remains a considerable gap between the desire for home ownership and many households’ financial means. For instance, 71.4 per cent of respondents intend to continue to save roughly the same amount as before. Only 9.1 per cent plan to increase their savings, whilst 12.5 per cent expect to save less or are unable to maintain their current level of savings. As a result, the association’s ‘Savings Climate Index’ fell from 0.6 points in the spring to -3.4 points. For the first time since spring 2025, there are now more people reducing their savings than those who intend to set aside more money in future.
Rising expenses and the cost of living are the main reasons for saving less. 43.4 per cent of those who intend to save less in future, or who are unable to do so, cite this reason. This is followed by a lack of income growth or a decline in income, cited by 16.2 per cent. 14.4 per cent cite an increased desire to spend. The general political and economic situation and uncertainty regarding retirement provisions are each cited by 13.7 per cent.
The results also underline the importance of building up equity for home ownership. Whilst owning one’s own home is once again becoming a concrete savings goal for an increasing number of people, higher living costs are limiting the ability to build up sufficient capital for this purpose. The representative survey was carried out by Kantar in June 2026 amongst 2,006 German citizens and marks the 87th survey in the series, which has been running since 1997.
“Home ownership as a savings goal has become significantly more important within just one year. I see this as a positive sign for the residential property market,” says Jacopo Mingazzini, CEO of The Grounds. “The desire to own one’s own home is clearly still very strong. This makes it all the more important to reduce the financial barriers to entry for potential buyers. This includes, in particular, better opportunities to build up equity and relief from ancillary purchase costs, for example through an exemption from land transfer tax for first-time owner-occupiers. This would help many households to actually realise their dream of home ownership.”
