02.09.2026 • 24/2026
Launch of the European Real Estate Index (EREI): German housing prices continue to rise more slowly than in Europe
Growth in asking prices for German residential properties offered for sale has lagged the European EREI aggregate since spring 2025. This is shown by the new European Real Estate Index (EREI) presented today by the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH). This novel data service hinges on more than 43 million listings on online real estate platforms and provides monthly comparisons of residential asking prices and advertised rents across 1,154 European regions in near-real-time.
Michael Koetter
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01.04.2026 • 10/2026
Economic growth in East Germany slightly higher than in the West – Implications of the Joint Economic Forecast Spring 2026 and of new data for the East German economy
In 2025, the East German economy expanded by 0.4%, somewhat more than Germany as a whole (0.2%). For 2026, the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) expects growth of 0.7% for East Germany (Germany: 0.6%). The unemployment rate is likely to amount to 7.9% in the current year, after 7.8% in 2025.
Oliver Holtemöller
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12.03.2026 • 8/2026
Oil price shock threatens recovery in Germany
Globally rising energy prices in the wake of the new Gulf War are clouding the outlook for the German economy. Nevertheless, increased public expenditure is expected to support economic activity both this year and next. According to the spring forecast of the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), output is projected to grow by 0.7% in 2026 and by 1.0% in 2027. We expect similar rates of expansion for East Germany. In December, the IWH economists had predicted growth of 1.0% for both 2026 and 2027.
Oliver Holtemöller
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Transparency and Forecasting: The Impact of Conditioning Assumptions on Forecast Accuracy
Katja Heinisch, Christoph Schult, Carola Stapper
Applied Economics Letters,
Vol. 33 (5),
2026
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of inaccurate assumptions on economic forecast precision. We construct a new dataset comprising an unbalanced panel of annual German GDP forecasts from various institutions, taking into account their underlying assumptions. We explicitly control for different forecast horizons to reflect the information available at the time of release. Our analysis reveals that approximately 75% of the variation in squared forecast errors can be attributed to the variation in squared errors of the initial assumptions. This finding emphasizes the importance of accurate assumptions in economic forecasting and suggests that forecasters should transparently disclose their assumptions to enhance the usefulness of their forecasts in shaping effective policy recommendations.
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Halle Institute for Economic Research
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