Additional housing costs are rising faster than inflation

Frankfurt. Housing is becoming more and more expensive. This is not just due to high real estate prices, construction costs or rents. The ongoing fees for water, sewage and garbage are also rising significantly in many places. This is shown by the new comparison of additional residential costs for the 16 state capitals of the Taxpayers' Association (BdSt), which is available to the Handelsblatt in advance.

As a result, additional housing costs rose significantly faster than inflation last year. The owners of a model home now had to shell out 1,492.16 euros for 2026 on average without property tax instead of 1,438.51 euros in 2025. An increase of 3.7 percent. The general price level only rose by 2.1 percent in the same period. When comparing the regions, inflation is particularly high in some municipalities.