Prefab House Price Index for Germany – Q3 2026

Methodology: how the figures are arrived at

A price index is only ever as good as its calculation rules – which is why we disclose them. We calculate the square-metre prices in this report at build time directly from our curated houses database. For each house with a recorded starting price, we divide this price by the stated living space, giving us a square-metre price. From these individual values we form the median, average as well as the minimum and maximum – in total 51 of 181 houses are included. Houses priced only on request are deliberately excluded, because an estimated price would distort the result.

We deliberately use the median as the key figure. The median marks the middle value: one half of all houses is cheaper, the other more expensive. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by individual outliers – a single premium house does not shift the median, but does shift the average significantly. This is precisely why we show both values side by side: the median represents the typical sense of prices, while the difference from the average reveals how strongly the upper segment breaks out to the top. For the breakdown per house type, we group all completion-stage houses (Ausbauhaus) regardless of floor plan into their own category, because the completion stage shapes the price more strongly than the building shape alone.

The second data level – the market development from 2020 to 2026 – forms a curated index series. It does not come from our houses database but is based on the construction price index of the German Federal Statistical Office and is editorially smoothed to the prefab-house segment. We set the base year 2020 to 100 points; each subsequent value shows the percentage change in the price level compared with this starting point. The marked jump from 2021 to 2022 reflects the material and energy price surges of the time, while the flat curve from 2023 reflects normalisation. It is important to understand: the index describes the general price dynamics, not the price of a specific house.

What the report deliberately leaves out weighs at least as heavily as what it shows. All square-metre prices relate exclusively to the building at the respective completion stage. Not included are the plot, site development, soil survey, ancillary construction costs such as notary, real-estate transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer) and building permit, as well as outdoor facilities. In practice these items easily add up to 20 to 35 per cent of the pure construction sum and vary enormously by region. Anyone wishing to apply the values shown here to their own project should therefore treat them as a reliable starting point – and calculate the individual ancillary costs separately.

Further tools are available to you for a more detailed cost calculation: with the prefab-house cost calculator you determine the total investment including foundation, ancillary costs and reserve. If you want to compare providers directly, the provider comparison helps. And anyone who wants to be notified of falling or rising prices is best off setting up the dream-house finder. This way you combine the statistical overview of this report with specific quotes tailored to your budget.

What the figures mean for builders

For prospective builders, the central finding of this report is the calming of the price curve. After the turbulent years of 2021 and 2022, in which prefab houses became noticeably more expensive within a short time, the market has stabilised since 2023. Anyone planning today calculates on a much more reliable foundation than three years ago – the risk that a quote becomes dramatically more expensive between the initial meeting and signing the contract has decreased. That does not change the fact, however, that the price level overall remains high: being around 37 per cent above the 2020 level means, for an average family home, a five-figure additional cost compared with the pre-Covid period.

The second lever lies in the completion stage. The large gap between the cheapest and the most expensive segment shows: anyone willing to lend a hand with the interior fit-out lowers the square-metre price considerably. A completion-stage house (Ausbauhaus) shifts trades such as painting, floor coverings and parts of the installation into contributed labour – this can save five-figure amounts, but requires manual skill, time and a realistic self-assessment. At the other end of the scale are turnkey town villas (Stadtvilla), where comfort, fittings and a prestige aspiration drive the price. Between these poles, almost every building family finds a suitable configuration – provided they know the realistic market prices. That is exactly what this report is intended for.