Comission-free real estate directly from the owner in Augsburg

Proud and economically healthy city with past, present and future

Augsburg can look back on a long and eventful history. The former Roman provincial capital "Augusta Vindelicorum", later "Fuggerstadt" and today the third largest city in Bavaria, is one of the oldest cities in Germany. Augsburg, with its current population of 270,000, is also an important university city with almost 20,000 students and the administrative seat of the Bavarian administrative district of Swabia. However, the pride and self-confidence of its inhabitants is not only fed by the glorious past and the present, which is characterized by strong population growth. The future of one of the most important industrial locations in southern Germany also seems to be secured in the long term by numerous prospering local large-scale enterprises. These include, above all, machine factories such as MAN, manroland, Renk, the lighting manufacturer Osram, as well as aerospace and computer development and manufacturing companies such as Fujitsu, Siemens, Böwe Systec, Beta Systems Software AG and Faurecia. The resulting low unemployment rate of only 5 to 6 percent has made Augsburg very attractive to newcomers from all over Germany and abroad. However, this attraction has also caused local real estate prices to rise sharply, especially in recent years. Depending on the exact location, prices for houses and apartments are in some cases already well above the current average city real estate purchase price of just under 3,000 euros/m².

The spatial neighborhood to the expensive Munich provides for price increases with real estates

Last but not least, the so-called "Munich effect", according to which many former residents of the very expensive Bavarian capital, which is only a good hour's drive away, move to Augsburg, has also caused prices there to rise significantly in a short time. The price increases in all market segments are being fueled primarily by demand for new apartments in very good, good and mid-range residential locations, while there is less interest in existing and new rental properties. Another characteristic of the local real estate market is the large proportion of capital investors among buyers; nowhere else in Germany were so many residential properties traded per capita between 2010 and 2012 as in Augsburg. Central locations such as the city center, the Bismarck, Beethoven and Antonsviertel districts not far from the train station, Hochzoll, Pfersee, Spickel and Göggingen are particularly sought-after and therefore also quite expensive with current prices of between 3,000 and 3,400 euros/m² for apartments. Somewhat less expensive are Bärenkeller, Lechhausen, Inningen, Oberhausen and Kriegshaber with prices between approx. 2000 and 3000 euros/m². Offers below 2000 euros/m² are occasionally found only in Herrenbach and in the university district south of the city center on the site of the old airfield. In the case of detached single-family and other houses, Bergheim, Haunstetten, Lechhausen and Kriegshaber are among the expensive areas with prices between2,400 and just under 4,000 euros/m², tending to be less expensive in Bärenkeller, Hochzoll and Oberhausen at around 1,700 to 2,000 euros/m².

From military to civilian use, from craftsmen's houses to garden cities

Investors and owner-occupiers also have high expectations for the future of Augsburg in terms of the real estate market, as outlined above, in view of the new residential areas, some of which have already been built and some of which are still planned, on land formerly used for military purposes by the US Army, which was stationed in the north of the city from 1945 to 1998. The former four housing estates for the soldiers' families called Sullivan Heights, Centerville, Cramerton and Fryar Circle around the Sheridan Barracks, the Reese Barracks and the Flak Barracks in the thoroughly popular Pfersee and Kriegshaber districts have already been partly converted into residential and commercial areas. On the total of 200 hectares of open space between the current Reese, Supply, Sullivan and Sheridan parks, further row houses and semi-detached houses with modern energy systems and photovoltaic systems or heat pumps are to be built as soon as possible, but similar to the existing ones, these will probably cost between 2,500 and 3,500 euros/m². Comparable and also higher prices are offered by an Augsburg residential quarter that has also become very popular again in the meantime because of its central location. The Lechviertel, which was extensively redeveloped at the beginning of the 1980s and once had an extremely poor reputation, is now appreciated by locals and visitors alike as a residential and strolling area because of its old alleys with historic cobblestones, the numerous renovated craftsmen's houses and its many boutiques, bars and pubs. Somewhat quieter and greener, and therefore popular with families with children, is the Thelottviertel in Pfersee, which is considered Germany's first "garden city."Even at the time of its creation between 1907 and 1929, it was considered very exemplary and progressive due to its loosened-up development of single-family, multi-family, apartment and commercial buildings, complete with landscaped courtyards and front and main gardens.

The real estate market in Augsburg in brief:

• Augsburg is an important industrial location in southern Germany and is growing steadily
• Population growth and proximity to Munich are causing prices to rise
• New buildings of all types are more in demand than older existing buildings
• One of the lowest prices for houses and apartments is in the university district.
• New construction projects are being realized on the site of the former US barracks
• The formerly disreputable Lechviertel is now a very popular residential neighborhood
• The Thelottviertel is Germany's first "garden city" and is popular with families.