At a glance
- One in ten corporations in Germany is a property company. The largest group, with 44,998 companies, consists of those that rent out and manage their own real estate.
- The interest rate turnaround of 2022 hit the formation of property companies harder than any other sector. Incorporations fell from 8,844 in 2021 to 5,180 in 2023, among property developers from 1,575 to 579.
- Since 2024, incorporations have been recovering, unevenly. The renting of own portfolios has almost regained its former level; property development, with 838 incorporations in 2025, is still 47% below the 2021 level.
- Insolvencies of property companies have multiplied. In the second quarter of 2026, 199 cases were recorded; in the second quarter of 2021 there were 42.
- The most vulnerable are property developers that have existed for five to nineteen years and are equipped with the statutory minimum capital. Their rate is several times higher than that of older and better capitalised firms.
Question and design
For more than a decade, low interest rates formed the foundation of the German property market. Purchase prices rose, developers found cheap financing and buyers for their apartments, and forming a company for the acquisition or development of individual properties became common practice. In 2022 this phase ended abruptly. Mortgage rates rose within a few months from around one percent to almost four percent, and in July the European Central Bank raised its key interest rates for the first time since 2011.
This report traces the consequences of this turnaround in the companies of the real estate sector. It asks how incorporations and insolvencies have developed in the individual segments, which companies are particularly vulnerable, how the structure of newly incorporated companies has changed and how the population is distributed regionally.
The population comprises 116,296 corporations of the real estate sector in the database, 10.0% of all companies.
Population and segments
The sector is divided into five segments. 44,998 companies rent out and manage their own real estate, 31,076 buy and sell their own land, 22,806 develop construction projects as property developers. Service providers for third parties make up the two smaller segments: 10,700 property management firms and 6,716 brokerage companies.
Property companies are on average younger than the rest of the database; 39.9% were incorporated since 2020. Their management more often consists of several people (34.2% compared with 29.3%), and more often the entire management has reached the age of 65 (12.5% compared with 10.6%). Among property developers, the youngest member of management has a median age of 53 years.
| Segment | Companies | Incorporated since 2020 | Entrepreneurial company (UG) | Management of several people | Entire management 65+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renting and operating of own real estate | 44,998 | 45.9% | 7.6% | 37.5% | 11.0% |
| Buying and selling of own real estate | 31,076 | 42.0% | 6.8% | 33.0% | 12.3% |
| Property development | 22,806 | 29.4% | 3.5% | 35.5% | 15.5% |
| Real estate management on behalf of third parties | 10,700 | 33.9% | 14.1% | 27.9% | 12.5% |
| Brokerage | 6,716 | 34.0% | 12.4% | 22.0% | 13.4% |
| Total population | 1,158,810 | 36.7% | 12.8% | 29.3% | 10.6% |
Management relates to active companies with recorded management.
Source: HDH Group, database as of the reference date, own calculation.
Incorporations before and after the interest rate turnaround
Incorporations of property companies more than quadrupled between 2010 and 2021, from 2,110 to 8,844. Their share of all incorporations rose to 13.8% in 2021. The peak fell in the first half of 2021 with 4,630 incorporations; by the second half of 2022 there were 2,796, and in the first half of 2023 only 2,525.
Companies still registered today, by date of incorporation.
Source: HDH Group, database as of the reference date, own calculation.
The decline was far deeper in real estate than in the rest of the economy. Between 2021 and 2023, incorporations of property companies fell by 41%, other incorporations by only 0%. Within the sector, the segments whose business depends on new construction and sales were hit hardest.
| Segment | 2019 | 2021 | 2023 | 2025 | 2023 vs 2021 | 2025 vs 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renting and operating of own real estate | 2,317 | 3,684 | 2,426 | 3,262 | −34% | −11% |
| Buying and selling of own real estate | 1,789 | 2,632 | 1,448 | 1,836 | −45% | −30% |
| Property development | 1,101 | 1,575 | 579 | 838 | −63% | −47% |
| Real estate management on behalf of third parties | 382 | 557 | 458 | 596 | −18% | +7% |
| Brokerage | 258 | 396 | 269 | 352 | −32% | −11% |
| All property companies | 5,847 | 8,844 | 5,180 | 6,884 | −41% | −22% |
Source: HDH Group, database as of the reference date, own calculation.
Property development lost almost two thirds of its incorporations between 2021 and 2023. The renting of own portfolios declined considerably less and had almost regained its former level by 2025. Only management on behalf of third parties grew against the trend, to 596 incorporations in 2025 and 357 in the first half of 2026 alone. Where less is built and sold, the need to manage what already exists grows.
Source: HDH Group, database as of the reference date, own calculation.
The structure of newly incorporated companies has also shifted. The share of entrepreneurial companies (UG) among incorporations rose from 8.8% in 2021 to 12.7% in 2025, the share of companies that explicitly manage their own real estate from 7.6% to 8.2%. Since the turnaround, property companies are less often formed for development and trading and more often for holding assets, frequently with less capital.
Insolvencies
With a delay of around a year, the collapse in incorporations was followed by a rise in insolvencies. In 2021, the rate for property companies stood at 1.6 ‰, in 2024 at 5.7 ‰ and in 2025 at 5.5 ‰. It has thus more than tripled. The number of cases per quarter rose from 42 in the second quarter of 2021 to 199 in the second quarter of 2026.
Most recent insolvency entry of the companies registered today.
Source: HDH Group, database as of the reference date, own calculation.
Compared with the rest of the economy, the rate for property companies remains lower; in 2025 the total population stood at 7.7 ‰. Companies renting out their own portfolios are remarkably insolvency resistant, because rental income continues to flow even when interest rates rise. Property development, by contrast, reached 8.6 ‰ in 2025, more than 3.6 times the 2021 value, and trading in own land 6.4 ‰. Both segments must pre finance land and construction work and depend on buyers, who stayed away when interest rates rose.
| Segment | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renting and operating of own real estate | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 3.2 |
| Buying and selling of own real estate | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 6.3 | 6.4 |
| Property development | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 6.0 | 8.1 | 8.6 |
| Real estate management on behalf of third parties | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 4.1 | 4.3 |
| Brokerage | 2.1 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 6.4 | 7.7 | 7.5 |
| All property companies | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 5.7 | 5.5 |
| Total population | 2.6 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 4.9 | 6.8 | 7.7 |
Companies with their most recent insolvency entry in the respective year per thousand companies incorporated before the beginning of the year.
Source: HDH Group, database as of the reference date, own calculation.
Property developers in detail
Among property developers, the risk is clearly distributed by age and capitalisation of the company. Companies that have existed for only a few years have mostly not yet started their projects or have already calculated them under the new conditions. The hardest hit are firms founded before the turnaround that started projects at old prices and interest rates: companies aged five to nine years reach a rate of 13.4 ‰ in the twelve months to June 2026, those aged ten to nineteen years 11.0 ‰. Companies with more than thirty years of existence, which have weathered crises of earlier decades, stand at 2.4 ‰.
All property developers: 8.2 ‰
Source: HDH Group, database as of the reference date, own calculation.
Capital separates even more clearly. Property developers with exactly the statutory minimum capital of EUR 25,000 reach a rate of 11.1 ‰, those with higher capital together 3.5 ‰. A higher share capital indicates shareholders who are willing and able to put equity into the company, and banks that have required it.
Source: HDH Group, database as of the reference date, own calculation.
Special purpose vehicles and concentration
In real estate it is common practice to hold every larger property or project in a separate company. This limits liability to the individual project and facilitates a later sale. The trace of this practice is found in management. 9.5% of rental companies have a management in which at least one person runs ten or more rental companies. The largest number in one hand is 457. Among property management firms and brokers, such concentration is practically unknown (0.8% and 0.1%).
The address shows the pattern as well. 9.5% of property companies share their business address with twenty or more other companies; in the total population the figure is 5.8%. 2.7% are contractually bound to a parent company; among the parent companies with the most agreements are large housing companies and the property companies of food retailers.
| Parent company | Registered office | Companies, at least |
|---|---|---|
| LEG NRW GmbH | Düsseldorf | 12 |
| Covivio Wohnen Verwaltungs GmbH | Essen | 11 |
| Hyacinthum Immobilienentwicklung GmbH | Neckarsulm | 7 |
| Investea Erste Holding GmbH | Berlin | 6 |
| Bau-Verein zu Hamburg Immobilien GmbH | Hamburg | 6 |
| Lagerbox Holding GmbH | Frankfurt am Main | 6 |
| Kapitalpartner Holding GmbH | Markdorf | 6 |
| REWE Märkte 60 GmbH | Cologne | 6 |
| LEG Grundstücksverwaltung GmbH | Düsseldorf | 5 |
| EDEKA Grundstücksverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH | Moers | 5 |
Only domination and profit transfer agreements with a clearly identified parent company.
Source: HDH Group, database as of the reference date, own calculation.
Regions
Measured against all companies in a state, real estate is most strongly represented in Brandenburg (125.5 per thousand), Saxony (123.6) and Berlin (121.9). In Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony, large portfolios have been refurbished, divided and newly built since reunification, frequently in companies formed specifically for this purpose. The share is lowest in Hamburg and Baden-Württemberg, whose remaining corporate population is particularly large.
Property developers are most densely represented in Bavaria (24.3 per thousand) and Saxony (23.3). Among their locations, after the large cities, Grünwald stands out with 286 companies, a municipality with a low local business tax multiplier.
| State | Companies | per thousand | Renting | Buying and selling | Property development |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandenburg | 3,638 | 125.5 | 1,462 | 1,067 | 645 |
| Saxony | 5,262 | 123.6 | 2,032 | 1,370 | 991 |
| Berlin | 11,112 | 121.9 | 4,508 | 3,565 | 1,479 |
| Mecklenburg Western Pomerania | 1,125 | 118.2 | 451 | 300 | 219 |
| Rhineland Palatinate | 4,786 | 113.7 | 2,302 | 1,036 | 900 |
| Bremen | 1,158 | 108.9 | 438 | 324 | 226 |
| Saxony Anhalt | 1,967 | 102.8 | 830 | 469 | 370 |
| Schleswig Holstein | 2,494 | 101.5 | 914 | 739 | 464 |
| Bavaria | 19,981 | 99.1 | 7,080 | 4,890 | 4,902 |
| Lower Saxony | 9,128 | 98.9 | 3,691 | 2,571 | 1,682 |
| Hesse | 9,253 | 97.8 | 3,398 | 2,614 | 1,817 |
| Thuringia | 1,789 | 96.3 | 775 | 399 | 318 |
| Saarland | 1,023 | 95.2 | 457 | 230 | 178 |
| North Rhine Westphalia | 23,485 | 93.5 | 9,465 | 6,571 | 3,926 |
| Baden-Württemberg | 15,235 | 91.0 | 5,400 | 3,556 | 3,758 |
| Hamburg | 4,859 | 90.6 | 1,794 | 1,375 | 931 |
Per thousand companies of the respective state.
Source: HDH Group, database as of the reference date, own calculation.
Assessment
The interest rate turnaround hit real estate in two phases. First, incorporations dried up, because new projects no longer paid off under the changed conditions. A year later, insolvencies rose, because projects started under the old conditions lost their financing or no longer found buyers. The economic literature describes this pattern as the adjustment of the asset market to changed capital costs, which passes through the valuation of properties to new construction and from there to developers.
The recovery since 2024 is a recovery of holding and managing. Asset holding companies and property management firms are again being formed in large numbers, while property development remains well below its former level. For banks, suppliers and service providers to the construction industry, this means that the wave of insolvencies among developers has yet to run its course; for property managers, refurbishers and buyers of portfolios, it opens up new opportunities.
Method and limitations
Data basis
The basis is the HDH Group database of registered corporations with their registered office in Germany as of 23 October 2026, with 1,158,810 companies.
Definitions
- Property company: a company in the real estate section of the classification of economic activities.
- Segments: according to the classes of this section: buying and selling of own land, property development, renting and operating of own land, brokerage, and management on behalf of third parties.
- Incorporation: conclusion of the articles of association or adoption of the statutes.
- Insolvency rate: companies with their most recent insolvency entry in the observation period per thousand companies incorporated before its beginning.
- Concentration: at least one member of management runs ten or more companies of the same segment.
Limitations
- The study covers corporations. Real estate owned by private individuals, partnerships, cooperatives and public enterprises in other legal forms is missing.
- Incorporations and insolvencies are counted for companies still registered today. For earlier years, companies deleted in the meantime are missing; the rise in insolvencies is therefore rather overstated, the collapse in incorporations rather understated.
- The assignment to segments follows the principal activity. Many companies develop, hold and sell at the same time.
- The temporal attribution to the interest rate turnaround is descriptive. Construction costs and energy prices rose at the same time, and support for new construction changed several times.
Literature
- DiPasquale, D. and Wheaton, W. C. (1992): The Markets for Real Estate Assets and Space: A Conceptual Framework. Journal of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association 20 (2), pp. 181 to 197.
- Glaeser, E. L. (2013): A Nation of Gamblers: Real Estate Speculation and American History. American Economic Review 103 (3), pp. 1 to 42.
How to cite
HDH Group (2026): Property companies and the interest rate turnaround. Incorporations, structures and insolvencies in real estate before and after the interest rate rise of 2022. HDH Group Research, as of 23 October 2026. https://hdhgroup.de/en/reports/real-estate
The results may be used freely provided the source is acknowledged. For questions on method and data, for analyses to your own definition and for press enquiries, please reach us via the contact page.