Germany

Germany's housing market enters 2025 with demand still concentrated in the 'A' cities and university hubs, while supply is constrained by a construction downturn. Only 251,900 apartments were completed in 2024 (-14.4% y/y), far below the federal target of 400,000 units/year, and a ministrycommissioned study cited building permits of ~216,000 in 2024, implying the pipeline remains weak. Net immigration continues to add pressure in major metros. \After the 2022-2023 rate shock, prices show a 'bottoming then stabilisation' pattern. Destatis reported +1.9% y/y houseprice growth in Q4 2024 (after declines earlier in the cycle), while the vdp index showed residential prices up +2.1% y/y in Q4 2024 and continuing gains in 2025 (vdp +3.9% y/y in Q2 2025). Rents are rising faster than prices: vdp reported newcontract rents up +4.6% y/y in Q4 2024, reflecting tight vacancy. \Consumer behaviour is increasingly 'datadriven': buyers scrutinise financing costs and energy/retrofit exposure, while renters digitise applications and compete via complete document packages. Technology adoption is accelerating on the distribution side-ImmoScout24 launched the HeyImmo AI assistant and continues to invest in AI product integrations and data tools such as its Price Atlas. \For 2025, the opportunity set is skewed toward rentalled strategies, energyefficient stock and valueadd retrofits, while risks remain around construction costs, energy regulation and rent controls. Investment sentiment is cautiously improving: CBRE Germany noted EUR33bn in 2025 realestate transaction volume with residential as the strongest asset class, consistent with a slow recovery narrative.

Germany's property portal market is undergoing its most significant structural reset since the ImmoScout24/Immobilien Scout GmbH formation era. The combination of market consolidation (Scout24's strategic focus after divesting non-core assets), the recovery cycle underway in residential prices from 2024 lows, and an accelerating supply crisis creates a distinctive competitive environment heading into 2026.

Scout24 AG (ImmoScout24 parent) completed its transformation into a pure-play real estate marketplace business with the sale of AutoScout24 in 2020. Since then, it has been investing in its 'digital ecosystem' strategy — attempting to own more of the transaction journey through mortgage (Baufinanzierung), agent CRM tools, and marketing analytics. ImmoScout24's GENIUS AI feature, launched in 2024-2025, automates listing creation from key data inputs and is positioned as a direct workflow tool for agents and developers rather than just a consumer-facing feature. This agent-OS positioning is a deliberate strategy to deepen professional stickiness beyond listing fees.

Immowelt (Axel Springer / Aviv Group, now majority KKR/CPP via Axel Springer's stake consolidation) is the primary alternative. The AVIV Group includes Immowelt in Germany, SeLoger in France, Idealista (shared ownership) in Southern Europe, and other portals. This multi-country structure gives AVIV a diversified European portal base, but also means that Immowelt's German strategy is set partly in the context of a pan-European portfolio rather than a pure-German product competition. For German agents, Immowelt is typically used as a secondary portal after ImmoScout24, with reach in specific regional markets where it indexes strongly.

Scout24's acquisition of Fotocasa and Habitaclia in Spain (announced 2025) signals that Scout24 is re-entering pan-European territory, which has implications for how it competes for institutional and cross-border developer clients who operate across markets.

On the supply crisis: Germany is building fewer homes than it needs by a wide margin, with new housing completions running well below the government's target of 400,000 units per year. This creates a structural scarcity dynamic that supports listing engagement but suppresses total inventory. The GEG (Building Energy Act) requirements for Energy Performance Certificates to be displayed prominently in every listing are creating a compliance standardisation layer that portals must enforce — and which rewards agents and landlords who maintain up-to-date EPCs.

For operators in the German market in 2026: ImmoScout24 remains the dominant portal for residential reach across all major cities. GENIUS AI and the Baufinanzierung integration make ImmoScout24 useful beyond pure listing distribution. The supply crisis means that the best-quality listings are increasingly scarce, and AI-assisted listing creation tools are becoming valuable for agents managing high volumes with limited staff. Regulatory compliance (GEG EPC display, anti-money-laundering KYC obligations for agents) is increasingly embedded in portal workflows and creates a differentiation opportunity for portals that simplify compliance.

Germany's housing market recovery in 2025-2026 is fragile but real: price declines in major cities (Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg) appear to have troughed in late 2023 or early 2024, with select submarkets showing stabilisation and selective recovery. For agents and investors, the recovery is not uniform — new construction remains structurally impaired by high financing costs and elevated build costs, but existing quality stock in desirable micro-locations is finding buyers at prices closer to 2022 levels. ImmoScout24's market price map data and ImmoScout24 Market Monitor are the authoritative real-time signals for tracking this recovery, and agents who can interpret and communicate these data signals to buyers and sellers will be better positioned in vendor advisory and buyer qualification conversations. Agents using GENIUS AI on ImmoScout24 for listing creation should review the AI-generated descriptions for accuracy on construction year, energy class, and property attributes before publication, as AI-generated errors in mandatory disclosure fields carry compliance risk under German advertising law.