What is my property in Freiberg worth?
A place that does not look to Dresden
Freiberg lies in the district of Mittelsachsen, 31.9 kilometres as the crow flies from the centre of Dresden, between Dresden and Chemnitz on the northern edge of the Ore Mountains. With 39,995 inhabitants it is the largest town in my patch and the most self-contained: the rules of the Dresden commuter belt do not apply here.
The S3 runs through to Freiberg at peak times, otherwise the regional service via Tharandt. Allow a good forty minutes to Dresden. More important than that connection is the dual orientation: some buyers work in Freiberg itself, others commute, and the two groups judge locations differently.
9.1 per cent vacancy, second-lowest owner-occupancy
Freiberg has 22,981 households spread across 6,264 residential buildings, 3.7 per building, at 1.7 people per household (2022 census). This is a market for flats, not for family houses.
Two figures explain it: the owner-occupancy rate of 41.7 per cent, the second-lowest of the 16 focus towns I cover, and vacancy of 9.1 per cent, the highest among them. Freiberg has more dwellings than demand for them, not everywhere, but on average. That presses on the lower quality segment and makes well-kept properties stand out all the more. Precisely because alternatives exist, quality works better here than in tight markets where the mediocre sells too.
Hands-on assessment
“When selling an apartment (Eigentumswohnung) in Dresden, I frequently see owners underestimate the achievable price by 8–15%. The difference almost always lies in the marketing strategy, not in the property itself.”
Calvin Linke, estate agent (Immobilienmakler) Dresden
Discuss in person →Sixty-four percentage points between Wasserberg West and the Seilerberg
No other place in the ring varies this widely. In Wasserberg West owner-occupancy is 1.8 per cent, in the Seilerberg 65.9 per cent. In the Bahnhofsvorstadt 15.0 per cent of dwellings stand empty, with 80.2 per cent of the stock built before 1949; in Neu-Friedeburg, with its 4,000 inhabitants, the pre-war share is 7.7 per cent.
The most populous quarters include Wasserberg Nord (4,221 inhabitants), Neu-Friedeburg (4,000), Silberhofviertel (2,958), Bahnhofsvorstadt (2,877) and Seilerberg (2,508). Without the quarter, a Freiberg figure carries no weight, and the town-wide average of 41.6 per cent pre-war stock describes neither the old-town quarters nor the prefabricated estates.
The 800-euro range for houses
Between 1,900 and 2,700 euros per square metre lie 800 euros. On 110 square metres of living space, the typical size in Freiberg's more densely built stock, that is around 88,000 euros of difference.
For flats the zone gives 1,700 to 2,350 euros per square metre. Where a property lands is decided in Freiberg first of all by its lettability: position relative to the campus, layout, energy standard. Building land runs from 80 to 150 euros per square metre.
University, World Heritage and a permanent rental market
Freiberg is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Erzgebirge Mining Region and, with the TU Bergakademie, has the oldest mining university in the world. The university sustains a permanent rental market, which changes the arithmetic for investors compared with the purely residential towns in the ring.
The town also takes in the more rural districts of Zug, Kleinwaltersdorf, Lössnitz and Halsbach with their one- and two-family houses. In Lössnitz owner-occupancy runs at 66.2 per cent and in Halsbach at 88.8 per cent, far above the town-wide figure of 41.7 per cent. For many buyers the search area runs seamlessly on into Halsbrücke, Bobritzsch-Hilbersdorf and Weissenborn.
Why the gap to Dresden is no yardstick here
The gap to Dresden is no useful yardstick here. The comparison is with Tharandt and Wilsdruff and above all with Freiberg's own hinterland, into which the market runs seamlessly. At 9.1 per cent vacancy, a prospective buyer's second question is not what the property costs but why it beats the alternative two streets away.
After the valuation
How I market a house in Freiberg is set out on selling a house in Freiberg, and for flats on selling a flat in Freiberg. For structure and neighbouring towns see Freiberg in profile. For the wider picture: estate agent in Dresden.
