Berlin, 26 September 2018 – Leipzig and Dresden reaffirmed their great significance for Germany’s housing market. Both cities, the two largest in the state of Saxony, defended their places among the top ten in the ranking of fastest-selling cities. Sales figures in Leipzig remained stable and suffered only a minimal decline of 3.88 percent as the number of units sold dropped to 4,688 (down from 4,877 in 2016). The decline was in any case well below the rates reported from Germany’s “Big Seven” cities (with the exception of Düsseldorf). Dresden maintained the prior-year level with a growth of 1.31 percent and a total of 4170 units traded (4,116 units in 2016). In the nationwide ranking, Leipzig made fifth and Dresden sixth place, ahead of Frankfurt and Düsseldorf even. This is the gist of the new 2018 ACCENTRO Homeownership Report that is based on the analysed data of property valuation committees for the 82 largest housing markets in Germany. These include eleven residential real estate markets in East Germany (in addition to Berlin).

Leipzig and Dresden Firmly Established in the Top 10 With revenues totalling 847.2 million euros (down from 877.1 million euros in 2016), Leipzig established itself as most important market after the seven Class A cities, and this is unlikely to change in the future. The city’s population is growing rapidly, while the unemployment rate dropped from eleven to seven percent between 2013 and 2017—and it keeps following a downward trend. Dresden has maintained its place, ranking tenth with a revenue total of 652.3 million euros (up from 637.8 million euros in 2016). The condominium markets of Leipzig and Dresden keep returning by far the highest sales figures among the East German cities.

Chemnitz Achieves the Steepest Percentage Growth in Sales Nationwide Another East German city that has attracted increasing interest among real estate players is Chemnitz. The local housing market has virtually sky-rocketed over the past years. Condominium sales in this, Saxony’s third-largest city, added up to 1,678 units and thus increased by 83.59 percent in 2017 (up from 914 units in 2016). It marked the steepest increase in sales among all major German cities, followed by Cottbus in the East German state of Brandenburg, where 233 condominium sales (up from 132 in 2016) implied a growth by 76.52 percent. The performance of the market in Chemnitz is attributable to the fact that its population has been growing steadily since 2011, after many years of demographic decline. Key factors that have enhanced the cities appeal include the high-tech sector associated with the local University of Technology as well as the strong presence of the mechanical engineering and automotive industries, which contribute to an altogether positive trend on the local labour market. The housing market of Cottbus also experienced a positive development. The city, which used to be the hub of East Germany’s lignite industry, successfully underwent a structural change since the country’s reunification. Conversely, there are other cities in East Germany where sales and condominium prices suffered visible setbacks in 2017, among them Erfurt and Jena in Thuringia.

Prices Showing Upside Potential Condominium prices in Chemnitz increased as well, rising from an average of 76,696 euros to 91,836 euros, which implies a price growth by around 19.74 percent and puts the city in fifth place in Germany’s price growth ranking. Still, condominium prices in East Germany’s cities are nowhere near the prices in most West German markets. Potsdam is the only East German city that ranks with the top 15, whereas Leipzig—after all the city with the eighth-highest total revenues in Germany—is all the way back in rank 35. Then again, Leipzig shows a steady price growth. In 2017, condominium prices averaged 180,717 euros, up from just 148,758 euros five years earlier and from 132,656 euros, which implies an increase by around 36 percent.

New-Build Condominium Sales Increasing Certain cities in East Germany also take exception to the negative trend in housing construction as they reported growth in the new-build segment. One of them is, again, Leipzig where new-build condominium sales went up by 15.50 percent year on year. Growth in the new-build segment jumped up by 173.95 percent in Chemnitz and by 31.17 percent in Cottbus. Three cities in Eastern Germany—Magdeburg, Leipzig and Berlin—top the list even over a ten-year period.

About the ACCENTRO Homeownership Report This year’s edition marks the eleventh time that ACCENTRO Real Estate AG published its Homeownership Report. The analysis is based on residential property sales transacted in all of Germany’s 82 major cities during the reporting year of 2017. The fact that it has access to the actual data of the surveyor committees sets this report distinctly apart from similar publications that tend to be based on expert assessments or the evaluation of quotes. Detailed findings of the ACCENTRO Homeownership Report on Germany’s “Big Seven” cities and the trends of the past ten years are also available online in the ACCENTRO database, and can be retrieved in selective drilldowns: Home Ownership Report 

About ACCENTRO Real Estate AG

ACCENTRO Real Estate AG is a residential property investor and Germany’s market leader in housing privatisations. Its real estate portfolio consisted of around 5,200 units as of 31 December 2020. In addition to Berlin, regional focal points include East German cities and conurbations, as well as the Rhine-Ruhr metro region and Bavaria. The business activity of ACCENTRO comprises four core divisions. These are the tenant-sensitive retailing of condominiums to owner-occupiers and private buy-to-let investors, the sale of real estate portfolios to institutional investors, the set-up and management of a proprietary real estate portfolio, and third-party condominium marketing for property asset holders, investors and developers. The shares of ACCENTRO Real Estate AG are listed on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (German securities code number WKN: A0KFKB, ISIN: DE000A0KFKB3). investors.accentro.de