Germany on a different track

Europe's low interest rates are fueling rising house prices in Germany, presenting the region's policy makers with a fresh challenge in their fight to restore its economic health.

Signs of a property-price boom in parts of Germany are becoming a headache for the European Central Bank, which has for the past two years struggled to fashion a single stance on interest rates and support for banks that fits countries as disparate as depressed Greece and mighty Germany.

While much of the euro zone is dealing with high debts, recession and burst credit bubbles, the bloc's biggest economy, Germany, faces an altogether different problem: Its real-estate market is showing signs of froth.

Germans don't share the "American dream" attitude toward homeownership of U.S. households. Germans have long tended to rent rather than own, and Germany has a low percentage of home ownership compared with the U.S. and U.K. 

Source: The Wall Street Journal