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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European Real Estate Index (EREI) 2026: A Near-real-time European Real Estate Index EREI: Monthly Listing Prices and Rents for Residential Real Estate
Michael Koetter, Felix Noth, Fabian Woebbeking
IWH Technical Reports,
No. 2,
2026
Abstract
Real estate is a capstone connection between various economic agents and markets. It is the main store of household wealth, serves as collateral for mortgage loans in the banking system, aids the transmission of monetary policy, and can propagate financial crises when overvalued. Yet comparable house-price data across the European Union (EU) and the euro area is unavailable, which hinders the design and evaluation of common monetary and economic policy that operates across heterogeneous housing markets. We derive monthly subnational European Real Estate Indicators (EREI) from online residential property advertisements in 16 European countries. The release covers April 2024 to June 2026 and contains 48,168 region-month-segment observations for 1,154 NUTS 3 regions, aggregating more than 43 million listing observations across the monthly sale and rental cross-sections. Each region-month segment reports the number of advertisements and summary statistics for asking prices per square meter and listing durations. The release also includes sale-segment indices for Europe, the euro area, and individual countries. Thirteen covered countries are EU members, which represented 85% of EU-27 gross domestic product in 2024. EREI data support research on a wide range of socio-economic phenomena associated with real estate dynamics, such as the evaluation of monetary policy or macroprudential policy effects on financial stability.
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Konjunktur aktuell: Zwischen Energiekrise und KI-Boom
Konjunktur aktuell,
No. 2,
2026
Abstract
Die deutsche Wirtschaft steht infolge der Energiekrise und des anhaltenden Golfkonflikts vor einer unsicheren Erholung. Steigende Kosten und eine schwächere Beschäftigungsentwicklung belasten die Konjunktur, während die Finanzpolitik stützend wirkt. Unter der Annahme stabiler Energiepreise dürfte die Produktion in diesem und im kommenden Jahr um jeweils 0,9% zunehmen; ähnliche Expansionsraten sind auch für Ostdeutschland zu erwarten.
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Decoding the Digital Finance Revolution: How BigTechs, FinTechs and Crypto-Assets Shape Financial Systemic Risk in US and EU
Domenico Curcio, Simona D’Amico, Iftekhar Hasan, Davide Vioto
Journal of International Money and Finance,
Vol. 161 (February),
2026
Abstract
Using a market-indicator-based approach, this paper empirically examines whether the stability of the US and EU financial systems is affected by the digital finance revolution driven by BigTechs, FinTechs, and crypto-assets. These three sectors display different downside volatility profiles, with financial intermediaries being particularly sensitive to shocks from the crypto ecosystem only under extremely severe downturns, which are prevented in regulated equity markets. In that vein, we provide evidence that the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation reduced financial systemic risk in EU. Overall, our empirical analysis shows that markets perceive the performance and riskiness of tech-driven companies and assets in differentiated ways, and that the transmission of shocks from digital finance ecosystems operates uniquely under varying conditions of systemic stress. Finally, we also document asymmetric spillover effects between advanced and emerging economies, with shock transmission from the US and EU to emerging markets being systematically stronger than in the reverse direction.
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A Rear-mirror View to the 11th FIN-FIRE “Challenges to Financial Stability” Workshop
Erik Ködel, Michael Koetter
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 3,
2025
Abstract
On September 25th, financial economists from all over the world travelled for the 11th time to Halle (Saale) to attend the annual FIN-FIRE Workshop at IWH. During two days, authors of ten papers covered a comprehensive overview of contemporary issues that pose potential challenges to the financial system, including data privacy in mortgage markets, climate risks in bond markets, synthetic risk transfers, the effects of geopolitical risks for lending, as well as granular perspectives on the transmission of monetary policy. An intense exchange of thoughts between authors, discussants, and the audience yielded genuinely new insights into the resilience and fragility of financial systems.
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11.12.2025 • 34/2025
Slight upturn on the horizon, structural problems remain
As the year draws to a close, it remains uncertain whether the German economy is on a path to recovery, as export weakness persisted through the autumn. Nevertheless, a slight upturn is forecast for 2026, supported by fiscal stimulus and rising real incomes. According to the winter forecast of the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), output is projected to grow by 1.0% in 2026, after an increase of just 0.2% in 2025. In September, the IWH economists had predicted growth of 0.8% for 2026 and 0.2% for the current year. According to this forecast, the pace of expansion in East Germany is expected to be slightly slower, mainly due to demographic factors.
Oliver Holtemöller
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