What is my property in Pirna worth?
Three addresses, three markets
Pirna has 39,244 inhabitants, 21,061 households and 6,569 residential buildings (2022 census). That works out at 3.2 households per building and 1.9 people per household: a dense town that looks from outside like a small place on the edge of a national park.
The districts are separated by more than the river. The Sonnenstein houses 6,202 people at 7.9 per cent pre-war stock and 29.4 per cent owner-occupancy, the core town 12,318 at 63.7 per cent pre-war stock and 37.1 per cent owner-occupancy. Copitz, the large residential area on the right bank, counts 9,656 inhabitants at 46.1 per cent owner-occupancy, and Graupa 3,074 at 80.9 per cent with 1.5 per cent vacancy.
For the valuation that means the town-wide figures of 57.4 per cent owner-occupancy and 46.3 per cent pre-war stock are arithmetic, not description. They apply to no single Pirna district.
Twenty districts between river and rock
Around the core lie ten further settlements of very different character. Graupa, Liebethal and Bonnewitz face the rock landscape and have stayed village-like; in Liebethal 84.7 per cent of the stock dates from before 1949. In Cotta, Krietzschwitz and Naundorf the stock is small-grained; in Birkwitz, Pratzschwitz and Obervogelgesang it stands on the river, and there the first thing I ask at an inspection is how high the plot sits.
Position relative to the water therefore belongs in every inspection, as does the question of past flood events. In Pirna that is no side issue but a position in the valuation conversation.
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 →The 700-euro range for houses
Between 2,100 and 2,800 euros per square metre lie 700 euros. On 110 square metres of living space, the typical size in a town with 3.2 households per building, that is around 77,000 euros of difference.
For owner-occupied flats the zone gives 1,700 to 2,400 euros per square metre, for building land 120 to 220 euros. At 57.4 per cent owner-occupancy both buyer groups operate side by side: owner-occupiers who look at layout and condition, and investors who calculate first. Which of them sets the price depends on the property.
Two buyer groups, two yardsticks
Both the S1 and the S2 stop in Pirna, so during the day a train leaves for Dresden every ten to fifteen minutes. Even so, at 17.0 kilometres Pirna lies further out than most places Dresden buyers count as the surrounding region, and that is precisely what explains the price level.
Anyone commuting to Dresden counts the minutes to the main station; anyone moving here for Saxon Switzerland counts the minutes to the rocks. The same house is marked differently by the two. The comparison runs to Lohmen or Heidenau, depending on which of the two groups the property speaks to.
After the valuation
How I market a house in Pirna is set out on selling a house in Pirna, and for flats on selling a flat in Pirna. For structure and neighbouring towns see Pirna in profile. For the wider picture: estate agent in Dresden.
