Commission-free Houses to buy in Rheinland-Pfalz

In and around Mainz and on the Rhine, prices are rising steadily; the Palatinate is even more favorable

With an ownership rate of a proud 58 percent for real estate, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate ranks second nationwide (46%) after its geographic neighbor Saarland (63%); this rate is even higher than the state average in some of its more rural regions, such as the Westerwald, the Eifel, in and around Trier, and in the Middle Rhine East area. In line with recent developments in the rest of Germany, prices for detached single-family houses, terraced houses and semi-detached houses in Rhineland-Palatinate have also risen, in some cases significantly, especially in most of the larger cities and their surrounding areas. The state capital Mainz and the city of Speyer stand out here, where the average house price of around 2,500 euros/m² is already above both the state and national averages. At an average of around 2,300 euros/m², prices have also risen in Koblenz and Landau in the Palatinate, while prices have also risen slightly in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse at around 2,200 euros/m² and in Ludwigshafen am Rhein at just under 2,100 euros/m².Prices arelower in Trier, where the average asking price for a house is around 2,000 euros/m², while Kaiserslautern and Wormsareeven cheaper at around 1,800 euros/m², Zweibrücken at 1,500 euros/m² and Pirmasens at 1,300 euros/m².

Coveted waterfront locations and favorable opportunities in Hunsrück and Westerwald

Generally speaking, the southeast of Rhineland-Palatinate in the economically flourishing Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region and all locations on the Rhine, Moselle, Saar, Lahn, Nahe, Sauer, Our, Glan and Sieg waterways are among the most sought-after and expensive residential areas. For example, houses in prime locations, such as at the mouth of the Moselle into the Rhine at Deutsches Eck in Koblenz, easily paid close to 900,000 euros in 2014, 20 percent more than in the previous year; in Bingen am Rhein in the Mainz-Bingen district and Andernach in the Mayen-Koblenz district, prices for homes in very good locations also rose by almost 10 percent between 2013 and 2014 alone. Further toward the central, but only sparsely populated Hunsrück, on the other hand, quite good opportunities can still be found in waterfront locations. For example, in the "gemstone city" of Idar-Oberstein on both sides of the Nahe in the Birkenfeld district, where average house prices of just over 900 euros/m² are decidedly cheaper than in the towns and cities on the Middle Rhine. Prices in and around Simmern in the Rhine-Hunsrück district are also still within manageable limits at around 1,200 euros/m², as are prices of a good 1,100 euros/m² in the Altenkirchen (Westerwald) district. However, Neuwiedinthe district of the same name and Bad Ems in the Rhein-Lahn district are more cost-intensive, although still affordable, at a good 1,600 euros/m². The town of Montabaur in the Westerwald district has risen sharply, but is still affordable at around 1,700 euros/m² on average.

The Eifel in the north and the south-west Palatinate near France have offers on offer

The parts of the Eifel region belonging to Rhineland-Palatinate in the north and northwest of the state present themselves as a rather low-priced segment comparable to Hunsrück in terms of population density and, with a few exceptions, average house prices. For example, in the county seat Bitburg of the Eifel district Bitburg-Prüm as well as in the association municipality Bitburg-Land these are currently around 1,400 euros/m², in the smaller association municipalities such as Arzfeld, Kyllburg, Neuerburg, Prüm and Speicher often even lower. The Vulkaneifel district on the border with North Rhine-Westphalia is also still quite favorable. The small villages there, which often have only a few hundred inhabitants, in the municipalities of Daun, Gerolstein, Kelberg, Hillesheim and Obere Kyll are sometimes badly affected by the ongoing exodus from the countryside and the resulting sharp decline in population, which of course means that property prices are stagnating or even falling. In contrast, the situation is more heterogeneous in the Ahrweiler district; house prices in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler and Sinzig, for example, have remained relatively constant since 2011, but in the towns of Grafschaft and Remagen they have fallen significantly in some cases over the same period. Other reasonably priced regions in Rhineland-Palatinate also include the districts of Kusel, Südwestpfalz and, with some cutbacks, Germersheim. In particular, the Zweibrücker Land, Pirmasens-Land and Dahner Felsenland communities bordering Saarland and France, as well as Thaleischweiler-Fröschen and Wallhalben, often offer surprisingly good deals in quiet, rural settings.

Short facts Buy houses in Rhineland-Palatinate:

- Prices are rising in all cities and municipalities with 10,000 or more inhabitants
- Demand and prices are particularly high in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region
- Mainz, Koblenz, Trier, Landau and Ludwigshafen with the highest price increases
- Hunsrück, Eifel, Westerwald and Southwest Palatinate are the most favorable areas
- The strong rural exodus in some regions is causing house prices to fall
- Regions near the borders with France and Saarland are still favorable