German housing market getting 'too expensive'

Berlin

GERMANY'S housing market is becoming prohibitively expensive and it's time to prepare for a downturn, according to the head of the country's second-largest landlord.

While some investors are willing to outbid one another in a bet that home values will continue to rise, rents don't justify the prices being paid, Deutsche Wohnen AG chief executive officer Michael Zahn, 52, said in an interview. Instead, the Berlin-based company is scaling back acquisitions and refinancing debt.