Residents without their own assets are being squeezed out of the housing market by tourists and for financial reasons. This is the conclusion reached by researchers from the Department of Human Geography at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KU) led by Professor Dr. Christian Steiner and Dr. Gerhard Rainer. Using the example of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, they have investigated the influence of tourism on the housing market.
With 900 vacation apartments and houses with over 4,800 beds in January 2021, the number of vacation properties in Garmisch-Partenkirchen has increased by almost 25 percent or 1,100 beds within one year. In addition, the purchase price for building plots almost doubled between 2014 and 2020, while rents rose by 37% in the same period. However, incomes in Garmisch-Partenkirchen are below the national average.
"Only wealthy locals who already own property and, above all, buyers from abroad are still in a position to purchase real estate in the market town. If this price dynamic is not broken very significantly, it can be expected that the social situation will polarize even further," the researchers write in their article. They attribute this development to the fact that significantly higher yields can be achieved with tourist rentals than with rentals for residential purposes. Together with the Bavarian Center for Tourism, which has already funded this case study, studies on the topic are now also being carried out in Oberstdorf and Berchtesgaden.
Source and further information: ku.de
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