Pfandbrief banks grant new real estate loans worth EUR 80.4 billion in the first half of the year

"For the second half of the year, at best, slight increases in new real estate financing business are to be expected."
Jens Tolckmitt

"The Pfandbrief banks' new real estate financing business is growing in the first half of 2026, and the development in this business area is solid. However, lending is still well below the volumes achieved before the interest rate turnaround," emphasised Jens Tolckmitt, Chief Executive Officer of the vdp. For the second half of the year, he expects at most a slight increase in new business under the given conditions. It can be assumed that the geopolitical uncertainties, the economic weakness and the continuing tense situation on the housing market will also have a dampening effect on real estate financing.

Tolckmitt appealed to politicians to do more to promote the formation of home ownership by private households. Owning one's own four walls is still the best form of retirement provision. "The fact that most people in Germany live in rented accommodation shows the great potential that lies in the promotion of home ownership." For example, a reduction in real estate transfer tax for owner-occupiers could make a significant contribution to reducing the barriers to access to residential property. This would result in a lower need for borrowed capital, which in turn would make the purchase of real estate much more affordable. At the same time, this could relieve the pressure on the rental housing market.

Almost all real estate classes contributed to the increase in the volume of residential real estate loans to EUR 50.1 billion in the first half of 2026: The largest relative increase of 7.3% year-on-year was for loans for multi-family buildings (EUR 13.2 billion). This was followed by the financing of condominiums (11.2 billion euros) and detached and semi-detached houses (23.2 billion euros) with growth rates of 6.7% and 4.0% respectively. Lending for other residential properties, such as building land, reached the previous year's level of EUR 2.5 billion.

The increase in the volume of new commercial real estate loans to a total of EUR 30.3 billion from January to June of this year was mainly driven by the development of financing for commercial buildings, which rose by 40.6% year-on-year to EUR 9.0 billion. The growth rates for loans for office properties (EUR 14.8 billion) and for hotels (EUR 2.4 billion) were 9.6% and 9.1% respectively. By contrast, new business for industrial buildings (EUR 0.5 billion) and other commercial properties (EUR 3.6 billion) declined compared with the same period of the previous year (-16.7% and -5.3% respectively).

The newly issued residential real estate loans led to a moderate increase in the portfolio in this segment: as of 30 June 2026, the volume of loans granted for residential properties was EUR 762.9 billion, 1.3% higher than a year earlier. By contrast, the commercial real estate financing portfolio fell by 3.5% to EUR 278.4 billion. New business was therefore still not sufficient to compensate for the repayments. Overall, the portfolio of real estate loans remained at the previous year's level at EUR 1,041.3 billion.

The complete data on the real estate financing business of the vdp member institutions, as well as tables and graphs for free use, are available on the vdp website – under the following LINK.