Why don’t most Germans buy their homes

I was recently speaking with a friend of mine from Germany who told me that most Germans never actually buy a house but rent for life. This quite surprised me so I looked at the stats and it is true.

With an ownership rate of just 41% German people are almost the lowest in Europe (just Switzerland coming in a little lower at 38%).

Coming from Ireland where owning a home is almost a rite of passage this appeared quite strange.

Ownership rates in Ireland is almost double that of Germany at over 81%. So why the difference between these two developed countries in Europe? Continue reading Why don’t most Germans buy their homes