Wiesbaden's population has grown by 22,000 to 292,000 in the past 20 years.

This increase is accompanied by the trend towards more and more single-person households and households whose residents are older than 65 years.

The bottom line is that the number of households in Wiesbaden increased by 12,600.

This emerges from an analysis of the demand for living space by the Office for Statistics and Urban Research.

Oliver Bock

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus district and for Wiesbaden.

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The population centers are therefore unchanged in the local districts of Biebrich, Dotzheim and "Nordost".

The growth was strongest in the local districts of Schierstein, “Südost”, Nordenstadt and Rheingauviertel/Hollerborn.

It is noteworthy that since 2001 the number of people moving in and out of the city limits has increased, while inner-city moves have fallen by around twelve percent.

The statistical experts interpret this as an indication of a tight housing market in the state capital.

In her view, this is also supported by the development of the home ownership rate, which remains at around 24 percent of all households.

However, the rate for those households in which everyone is older than 65 years has increased by nine points to 36 percent since 2006.

Accordingly, younger households are finding it increasingly difficult to acquire property in Wiesbaden.

"The current sharp rise in consumer prices and an increase in interest rates are likely to make these circumstances even more difficult in addition to the sharp rise in real estate prices in recent years," the report summarizes.

Low vacancy rate

The market segment of publicly subsidized apartments for low and middle incomes has been declining for years because apartments are no longer subject to rent and occupancy restrictions, even though 2,600 singles and families have applied for such an apartment.

Around ten percent of Wiesbaden households receive basic security benefits (“Hartz IV”).

The unemployment rate was 7.7 percent at the end of 2021.

From the statistician's point of view, it is evident that "the challenge of finding adequate housing in the state capital is not the same for all population and income groups".

This is confirmed by housing market analyzes by brokerage companies such as Poll.

Accordingly, the vacancy rate in the state capital is only 1.7 percent and the household size is just over two.

The average duration of a property on the market has steadily decreased over the past three years, according to the market report for 2022, which shows prices continuing to rise.

Accordingly, the purchase price for new condominiums has long passed the mark of 6,000 euros per square meter, while tenants now have to pay 14 euros per square meter for first-time occupants.

According to the forecast, demand will continue to outstrip supply, especially for semi-detached and terraced houses.