German home prices tumble amid property rout

The drop comes amid the biggest property crisis in decades in Germany, Europe's largest economy. For years, the property sector in Germany and elsewhere in Europe boomed as interest rates were low and demand strong.

Residential property prices in Germany continued their fall, dropping 10.2% in the third quarter from a year earlier, a further grim sign for the nation's real-estate sector, data on Friday showed.

It was the fourth consecutive quarter of declines and the biggest since Germany's statistics office began keeping records in the year 2000. The drop comes amid the biggest property crisis in decades in Germany, Europe's largest economy.

For years, the property sector in Germany and elsewhere in Europe boomed as interest rates were low and demand strong. But a sharp rise in rates and costs has put an

end to the run , tipping

developers into insolvency as bank financing dries up and deals freeze.