Germany issued 18,500 building permits for new apartments in April 2025, a 4.9% increase—or 900 more units—compared to the same month last year, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). This marks the second consecutive month of growth in residential construction planning, following a 5.8% rise in March.
From January to April 2025, a total of 73,900 apartments received approval, reflecting a 3.7% year-on-year increase. These figures include permits for apartments in new residential and non-residential buildings, as well as new units within existing structures.
Permits for new residential buildings reached 15,000 in April alone, up 5.1% (or 700 units) from April 2024. The overall number of new residential and non-residential units approved during the first four months of 2025 rose by 4.3%, or 2,500 units.
A notable rebound was seen in the single-family home segment, with 14,200 permits issued from January to April—15.4% (1,900 units) more than the same period last year. This upward trend has been continuing since December 2024. In contrast, permits for two-family homes declined by 9.7% to 4,000 units. Approvals for multi-family homes, the largest housing category by volume, remained nearly unchanged at 38,600 units, down just 0.1% year-on-year.
Germany’s housing market is slowly emerging from its deepest downturn in decades, which began in 2022. The ongoing growth in building permits, alongside improved forecasts for the national economy in 2025 and 2026, suggests a cautious but tangible recovery in the construction sector.