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Germany’s Online Rental Market Tilts Toward Furnished Listings as Standard Offers Shrink

The Justice Ministry is preparing limits on short-term furnished rentals to curb workarounds to Germany’s rent cap.

Overview

  • GREIX data released Monday show regular rental offers in 37 cities have fallen 22% since 2015 to 285,000 as permanent furnished listings grew from about 12,000 to 37,000.
  • Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig proposes a six‑month maximum for temporary lets and a furnishing surcharge capped at 5% of the base rent without utilities.
  • The Ifo Institute estimates temporarily rented furnished units make up at most 0.8% of the overall market and says frequent re‑listing makes them look larger online than they are.
  • Advertised rents rose 0.5% quarter over quarter and 2.9% year over year in Q1, which GREIX says is the slowest annual increase since late 2021.
  • Tenant groups report more furnished or time‑limited contracts in big cities and say some landlords use them to sidestep the rent‑brake rules, which pushes seekers toward pricier, less stable options.