BERLIN, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Rental costs in Germany have risen steeply again in 2017, a report published on Thursday by the Federal Institute for Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Research shows.

After already rising by 4.9 percent on average in 2016, rental costs per square-meter for newly-leased properties in Germany increased by another 4.5 percent on average in 2016, according to the Bonn-based federal institute.

The report noted that there were significant regional differences in rental prices charged by landlords, with Munich, Frankfurt and Stuttgart leading list of the most expensive places to live in Germany. Nevertheless, the average increase in the cost of newly-leased properties still easily outpaced annual consumer price growth (1.8 percent) in 2017.

Commenting on the findings, Matthias Waltersbacher of the Federal Institute for Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Research said that the ongoing construction boom in major urban cities was clearly proving insufficient to keep a lid on prices faced by new tenants.

"A significant expansion of housing construction could have a dampening effect on the rental cost dynamic," Waltersbacher argued.