While the UK property market continues to focus on the growing ‘north-south’ divide, a new survey by the F+B real estate research group in Germany has revealed that the property market is even more divided over there.

The eight most expensive rural and urban municipalities were all in Bavaria and overall, the south was considerably more expensive than the rest of the country. Also, eastern parts of Germany remain by far the cheapest and residents of the Saxony town of Görlitz pay on average four times less than those in Munich.

People living in the Munich area are paying double the national average for real estate and residential rentals, according to a survey, which also reveals that after remaining steady for many years property prices in Germany began rising last year.

According to the German press, F+B analysed price movements for all regions of the country and the national average was set at 100 points. The financial capital Frankfurt was 156.6 points (56.6% above the average) and Munich was 213.8, with most of its surrounding areas also scoring over 200 points (more than double the national average).

Berlin was on a par with the national average, while Hamburg (145), Stuttgart (158) and Cologne (135) were all more expensive.
However, F+B reported that rental prices only increased by 5% between 2004 and 2010 while property prices nationally did not change between 2004 and 2009, then rose by 3% last year.