STUTTGART (dpa-AFX) - In view of the rise in construction interest rates, consumers have rediscovered home savings in the past year. In terms of the volume of newly concluded contracts, he expects an increase of 40 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year, said the chairman of the Association of Private Building Societies, Bernd Hertweck, to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. In terms of the number of units, it is 15 percent more. Demand remains high, he added.

The Association Director of the Landesbausparkassen, Axel Guthmann, put the growth in home savings for the months of January to September 2022 at just under 49 percent. The number of contracts concluded rose by 22.8 percent. The Landesbausparkassen account for around one third of the German market, with the remainder shared by private institutions.

The reason for the boom is obvious, Guthmann said: "Builders and buyers want to hedge their real estate financing as best they can against the risk of rising interest rates." A secure build-up of equity and low-interest loans - that is the core idea of building savings, he said. People rediscovered this for themselves in the spring./dhu/DP/zb