Commission-free real estate directly from the owner in Karlsruhe

Young, multicultural and economically strong city in a prime geographic location

The second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart currently has a population of almost 300,000, and the trend has been upward for years. For the future, too, most experts predict a further increase in the population of the margravial residence, which was founded in 1715 in the present-day state forest Hardtwald near Durlach around the famous baroque palace that was still under construction at the time. Karlsruhe is thus a relatively young city by German standards and also quite unusual in terms of urban planning due to its geometric design, as well as having always had a largely international character due to much immigration and its border location. Over the centuries, French religious refugees, Italian artists, Swiss craftsmen and Polish workers sought and found work, a livelihood and often a new home there. After 1945, numerous displaced persons from Eastern Europe were drawn to the economically dynamic northern part of Baden, and from the 1960s onward, additional and increasing numbers of southern Europeans and Turkish emigrants were attracted to the city. Today, the local migrant share of just under 14% is slightly higher than that of Berlin and Hamburg. Of Karlsruhe's current total of 27 districts, with their combined total of over 60 neighborhoods, more than a dozen were incorporated only between 1886 and 1975. The oldest quarters are those in the center (Innenstadt West and Ost, Weststadt, Nordweststadt, Nordstadt, Oststadt, Südstadt, Südweststadt), while the districts of Neureut, Waldstadt, Hagsfeld, Rintheim, Durlach, Weiherfeld-Dammerstock, Beiertheim-Bulach, Grünwinkel and Mühlburg, which are draped around them in a ring, are more recent. Finally, Daxlanden, Oberreut, Rüppurr, Wolfartsweier, Grünwettersbach, Palmbach, Stupferich and Grötzingen are located on the city borders with the Rhine and Rhineland-Palatinatein thewest, theKarlsruhe districtin thesouth and the Enzkreis district in the east.

High demand from lawyers, engineers, managers, researchers and professors

As in all other major German cities, real estate prices in Karlsruhe have risen significantly in recent years, in some cases and depending on the exact location. The current average real estate purchase price of almost 3,000 euros/m² is already higher than the current state and national averages. Particularly in demand in the above-mentioned central locations are apartments in older buildings with four to five rooms; the front-runners in terms of apartment prices are the Südstadt and Oststadt districts, as well as the Weststadt and Südweststadt districts, at around 2,600 to 3,700 euros/m². Not least the demand from the several hundred employees of the Federal Court of Justice and the Federal Constitutional Court, which have been based locally since the early 1950s, and from executives of large companies such as EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg or Siemens, the largest employer in Karlsruhe with around 4,500 employees, ensure a constant demand for high-quality living space. The continuing demand for apartments and houses by the 35,000 or so teachers, learners and scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the University of Applied Sciences, the University of Education, the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University, the State Academy of Fine Arts, the University of Design (HfG), the University of Music, the Karlshochschule International University and the EC Europa Campus is also making them continuously more expensive. Prices per square meter for condominiums of less than 3,000 euros/m² in Karlsruhe can still be found in Daxlanden, Durlach, Hohenwettersbach, Rüppurr, Grötzingen and Mühlburg; for less than 2,000 euros/m², the only place to find one is in the Grünwinkel district in the southwest of the city, which is characterized by large industrial parks.

Rising prices and various new residential areas in the steadily growing city

The purchase prices for houses in Karlsruhe are currently somewhat lower than those for apartments, but at just under 2,800 euros/m² they are still well above the national real estate prices of 1,800 euros/m² on average. Among the most expensive areas in this respect are Durlach with Alt-Durlach, Dornwald-Untermühl, Hanggebiet, Bergwald, Aue, Lohn-Lissen and Killisfeld, where up to approx. 3,300 euros/m² are payable when buying a house. It is still cheaper in Rüppurr, Neureut and Palmbach with prices between 2,300 and 2,800 euros/m². In view of the high demand, the various new construction projects planned in Karlsruhe are also of some significance, for example the new "City Park" district, where around 2,800 apartments are to be completed by 2017 on a total of 335,200 square meters of building land on the site of the former mending plant in Südstadt. Also of interest is the urban development project in the northwest, named "Knielingen 2.0" after the second-largest district in terms of area, where housing for around 1,500 people will be built on more than 30 hectares by 2015, as will the multigenerational residential quarter at Albgrün on the corner of Durmersheimer Strasse and Zeppelinstrasse in Grünwinkel. The approximately 1,000 residential units of the more than 30 multi-family houses built between 1954 and 1974 in Rintheimer Feld to the east of the center are also to be made more attractive with modern measures. The approximately seven-hectare development area on part of the former "Smiley Barracks" site between Nordstadt and Neurreut-Heide comprises around 190 residential units. Quite exclusive is the good 19,000 m² Garten-Carré on the traffic-calmed zone of Lorenzstrasse in Südweststadt, in the immediate vicinity of the Center for Art and Media Technology, with commercial space, medical practices and 66 condominiums.

The real estate market in Karlsruhe:

• Karlsruhe is home to major companies, federal and research institutions

• The city has been international and multicultural since its foundation in 1715

• Rising population figures ensure a great demand for living space

• Locations in the city center and downtown are particularly sought-after and expensive

• The economic strength with many jobs ensures rising prices

• House and apartment prices are above the state and national average

• Several new residential areas are currently being planned and realized in the city area