Eastern savings banks allocate 5.1 billion euros for housing construction

According to figures from the East German Savings Banks Association (OSV), more construction is taking place in eastern Germany again. Last year, the savings banks in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt granted loans totaling 10.7 billion euros to private customers and businesses - an increase of 7.1 percent.

5.1 billion euros of this was for residential construction, according to the OSV. This was 9 percent more than in 2023, when the figure had plummeted. At that time, rising interest rates and high inflation, among other things, caused a reluctance to build.

Loans to the economy stabilize

The lion's share of new lending business was accounted for by private individuals, said Wolfgang Zender, Managing Director of the association. According to OSV data, there was an increase of 12.5 percent to 4.43 billion euros. Housing construction accounted for 3.6 billion euros. In turn, 75 percent of this went towards the purchase and acquisition of existing residential space.

New loans to companies and the self-employed fell by one percent. This is seen as stabilization, as in 2023 it was still minus 28, said Zender.

The Managing President of the OSV, Ludger Weskamp, emphasized with a view to the Bundestag elections on Sunday: "We are concerned with the topic of bureaucracy and bureaucracy reduction." The time for talking is over. Bureaucracy reduction must be tackled. This should be a top priority for a new federal government. "We also believe that the back and forth in shaping the economic framework conditions must come to an end."