At first glance, the new home ownership subsidy for families appears to be quite attractive: the state development bank KfW gives families access to loans at virtually no cost. The promotional loans are available from an interest rate of 0.01 percent – and thus well below the current market level of a good 3.9 percent for a loan with a ten-year fixed interest rate. The maximum amount for funding is 240,000 euros.
Also read: “Households that would have bought two years ago are now looking for apartments to rent”
A look at the funding requirements gives an indication of why so few families have applied for the new KfW funding: The program – the successor project to the Baukindergeld that expired at the end of 2022 – is aimed exclusively at families with low and medium incomes. In concrete terms, this means that the household’s taxable annual income may not exceed EUR 60,000. For each additional child, this limit increases by 10,000 euros.