Even I was caught off guard by the latest figures: Rents on new leases have increased by a mere 0.84% year on year in Munich, by 0% in Frankfurt am Main, by 0% in Düsseldorf, by 0% in Dresden, by 0% in Bonn, and by 0% in Wiesbaden. I’ll bet you, though, that policymaker will want to introduce the rent […]

When I bought my first piece of property in 1996 the real estate transfer tax was 2%. The rate was raised to 3.5% shortly thereafter. Germany's federalist reform of 2006, which made this a state-level tax, has triggered something of a race among the German states to charge the highest real estate transfer tax.