DIW study: assets of Deutsche shrinks – ZEIT ONLINE

The net assets of private households in Germany is according to a study declined significantly – despite rising wages. Blame will be the real estate prices.

19th August 2015 15:18 clock

The Kaufingerstrasse in Munich is one of the most expensive patch in Germany. | © Matthias Balk / dpa

The net assets of private households have shrunk According to a study in 2003 to-2013. Become inflation taken into account in the amount of time that households have lost nearly 15 percent of their net assets, according to a study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) on behalf of the union-friendly Hans Böckler Foundation. The researchers drew on data from the Income and Expenditure Survey (EVS) of the Federal Statistical Office and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

The private households had in 2013, according to the study average real net worth of just under 117,000 euros. Thus they were found to have lost in the past decade, more than 20,000 euros.

In the period but also nearly 45 percent of people would be able to increase their assets in real terms – the most 30 to 39 year olds. Especially risen sharply the assets were in people who received gifts or inheritances. Households that have benefited from donations between 2002 and 2007, thus became richer by 35,000 euros on average according to the study, when inheritances there was an average increase of 18,000 euros. However tenants had very low capital gains and also on average less than 3,000 euros, the lowest net assets.

inflation heats loss

The researchers do mainly two reasons for this: the “weak performance of owner-occupied real estate” and the “investment

behavior of German “. So the value of real estate has risen in recent years in certain metropolitan areas such as Munich, Berlin or Cologne, while the rest of the Republic, many homes have lost value in real terms. Many savers invested their assets also preferably in low-risk, but low-return investments such as savings accounts, checking accounts or savings contracts. These would often not even compensate for inflation.

This is also a reason for the loss of assets: If the price increase is not taken into account, household wealth rose over the same period, according to the study average marginally, namely by 0.4 per cent, or 500 euros , The savings rate of households was in the past two decades, according to the researchers almost continuously at more than nine percent.

Other study comes to the contrary will result

The results of the DIW study contradict those of National Accounts (SNA). This exhibit from an increase in assets of 20 percent for the years 2003 to-2013. The DIW researchers explain the different results with a different calculation of the value of real estate. While the national accounts calculated an increase in value of 19 percent, this has dropped, according to DIW. Unlike the statisticians from the national accounts, the DIW researchers ask home owners what they value, what price they could sell their property.

The development and evaluation of real estate prices is debatable. From a loss of values ​​in real estate in big cities can be noisy a study published Wednesday by the Institute of the German Economy in Cologne hardly speak. However, being built on the land too much, which could lead to vacancy and loss of value. In some regions in West Germany there are too many apartments, which would not be needed.

Just recently, the Bundesbank had calculated that the private financial assets has risen to a record level in Germany. An OECD study in May came to the conclusion that assets are distributed in Germany unequal than in other industrialized nations. The poorest 60 percent are therefore in this country, only six percent of the total assets.