GEWOS Institut für Stadt-, Regional- und Wohnforschung GmbH

GEWOS Institut für Stadt-, Regional- und Wohnforschung GmbH — commonly shortened to GEWOS — is an independent German research and consulting institute focused on housing markets, real estate market analysis, demographics and public-service provision, and inner-city development. According to its own website, the institute has operated successfully in the German housing and real estate market for more than 50 years, making it one of the longer-established specialist consultancies in this field. It is headquartered in Hamburg and maintains a second office in Berlin, from which it serves clients across the whole Federal Republic of Germany. GEWOS positions itself as a provider of tailored, sustainable decision-making foundations for both companies and public-sector clients. Its client base is unusually broad for a research institute: it includes municipalities, federal states (Länder) and federal institutions, as well as private-sector clients such as building societies (Bausparkassen), housing companies, developers and social-service providers. This mix of public and private commissioning reflects the institute's role at the intersection of housing policy, urban planning and real estate economics. The institute's service portfolio is organised around several practice areas. The housing market practice covers topics such as housing supply concepts and the identification of areas with tense housing markets. The real estate market analysis practice produces recurring market studies, including the IMA (Immobilienmarktanalyse) series, which tracks transaction volumes and purchase-price trends in the German property market. A further practice area addresses demographics and Daseinsvorsorge — the provision of services of general interest — while a consulting and research unit handles bespoke studies, and an inner-city development practice deals with the revitalisation and positioning of town and city centres. GEWOS works on a project basis for public authorities and private clients. Examples visible on its website include a housing supply concept (Wohnraumversorgungskonzept) for the municipalities of Ilsede and Hohenhameln on behalf of the Peine district, an expert opinion on identifying areas with tense housing markets commissioned by a state ministry, and support for an integrated urban development concept (INSEK) in Bad Saarow. The institute also publishes regular press releases and market commentary, such as its assessment of how geopolitical events have slowed the recovery of the German real estate market. As a GmbH (limited liability company) registered in Hamburg, GEWOS is a privately held entity rather than a listed company. Its brand identity rests on independence, long-standing market experience and the combination of empirical research with practical consulting for housing and urban policy. The institute does not sell consumer products; its offerings are studies, expert opinions, market analyses, concepts and advisory services.

GEWOS Institut für Stadt-, Regional- und Wohnforschung GmbH is a Hamburg-based research and consulting institute. Its own corporate communication states that it has operated in the German housing and real estate market for more than 50 years, which places its origins in the post-war era of German housing research, when systematic analysis of housing supply, regional development and urban structure became an established field of applied social and economic research. The institute was established as a limited liability company (GmbH) and has remained a privately held organisation. Over the decades, GEWOS built its reputation on combining empirical research with practical consulting for public authorities and private market participants. Its name — Institut für Stadt-, Regional- und Wohnforschung (Institute for Urban, Regional and Housing Research) — reflects the three intertwined spatial scales on which it works: the city, the region and the housing market. This breadth allowed the institute to serve both municipalities and federal states, which need housing supply concepts and urban development strategies, and private-sector clients such as building societies, housing companies and developers, which need market analyses and demand forecasts. A central element of the institute's public profile has been its recurring real estate market analysis, published under the IMA label. These studies track transaction volumes and price trends in the German property market and are accompanied by press releases that interpret current developments for the media and the industry. The institute also produces expert opinions on regulatory questions, such as the identification of areas with tense housing markets — a designation with legal consequences under German rent regulation. GEWOS operates from offices in Hamburg and Berlin and works throughout the Federal Republic of Germany. Its project portfolio spans housing supply concepts for individual municipalities and districts, integrated urban development concepts (INSEK), demographic and Daseinsvorsorge studies, and advisory mandates for state ministries. The institute's client list, as described on its website, includes municipalities, federal states, federal institutions, building societies, housing companies, developers and social-service providers. In the 2020s, GEWOS has continued to publish market commentary on the German real estate market, including analysis of how external shocks — such as geopolitical conflict — affect transaction activity and prices. The institute remains an independent, privately owned consultancy rather than part of a larger listed group.

• GEWOS is founded as a limited liability company (GmbH) for urban, regional and housing research; its website states it has operated in the German housing and real estate market for more than 50 years.

• The institute establishes offices in Hamburg and Berlin, serving clients throughout Germany.

• Publication of the recurring IMA real estate market analysis series and related press releases.

• 2026-06-04: GEWOS supports Gruppe Planwerk in preparing the INSEK integrated urban development concept for Bad Saarow.

• 2026-08-27: Peine district commissions GEWOS to prepare a housing supply concept for Ilsede and Hohenhameln.

• 2026-08-27: GEWOS is commissioned by a state ministry to produce an expert opinion on identifying areas with tense housing markets.

• 2026-09-17: GEWOS publishes its IMA 2026 press release on the slowed recovery of the German real estate market.

Independent research and consulting institute providing tailored, sustainable decision-making foundations for public and private clients in the German housing and real estate market.

• IMA – Immobilienmarktanalyse

  Recurring real estate market analysis tracking transaction volumes and purchase-price trends in Germany.

• Wohnraumversorgungskonzept

  Housing supply concept prepared for municipalities and districts, e.g. Ilsede and Hohenhameln for the Peine district.

• Gutachten zu angespannten Wohnungsmärkten

  Expert opinion on identifying areas with tense housing markets, commissioned by a state ministry.

• INSEK – Integriertes Stadtentwicklungskonzept

  Integrated urban development concept, e.g. for Bad Saarow in cooperation with Gruppe Planwerk.

• Demografie und Daseinsvorsorge

  Studies and consulting on demographic change and the provision of services of general interest.

1. 1GEWOS / Startseitegewos.de
2. 2GEWOS Institut für Stadt-, Regional- und Wohnforschung GmbH – Wikidatawikidata.org