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Individual home ownership is not a good metric for the state of the middle classes, and the exception Germany illustrates it well: With renter-friendly regulations and high shares of public or semi-public (cooperatives etc.) ownership of homes, there often is no need to own housing, neither for financial nor for security reasons. In fact the rising home ownership rates in Germany are a symptom of the detoriating situation of the market, leading to more gentrification and rising rents in many regions.