Frankfurt Live centrally and expensively in Frankfurt or idyllic and cheaper in the surrounding area of the Main metropolis? When faced with this question, many young families in particular now often choose the suburbs.
The introduction of the Deutschlandticket, which limits the costs of commuting to work, as well as falling real estate prices have not only changed the situation in the metropolises, but also in the surrounding areas. The prices vary significantly depending on the suburb.
Where is it worth looking at now? Which communities are rated comparatively cheaply? And what should buyers pay attention to? Using exclusive data from the broker at Poll Immobilien and the economic institute HWWI on behalf of Postbank, the Handelsblatt traces which places around Frankfurt am Main are currently particularly attractive for buyers and commuters.
According to the available data, the trend reversal in the real estate market is also evident in the area surrounding the banking city. It’s not just in the big city itself that the asking prices have slipped – the average price per square meter for a condominium in the suburbs has also fallen significantly.
The attractiveness of the Frankfurt area, especially for commuters, shows strong differences. “Districts in the wider area surrounding Frankfurt have recorded greater price declines than the surrounding areas with good locations, good infrastructure and good transport connections,” says Daniel Ritter, managing partner of the Poll Immobilien broker. Most commuters don’t want to spend long periods of time in the car or train.
Vordertaunus is the first choice for property buyers
The nearby Vordertaunus remains the first choice for wealthy customers. “Bad Homburg, Kronberg, Bad Soden and Königstein are very attractive, especially for a wealthy clientele,” says David Schmitt, managing director of the broker Engel & Völkers for Frankfurt and the entire Taunus. However, the Taunus communities in the north-west of Frankfurt have traditionally also been among the most expensive in the surrounding area; when buying a house, interested parties quickly come to at least 10,000 euros per square meter.
The Taunus communities in the northwest of Frankfurt are traditionally among the most expensive in the surrounding area.
(Photo: IMAGO/Volker Preußer)
“The most stable locations are still the A locations,” says Stefan Koch, branch manager at von Poll Immobilien. “For us, this includes the villa areas as well as quiet city locations in Bad Homburg, Oberursel and Friedrichsdorf.” But the surrounding area is also a bit smaller if you look around in other areas, emphasizes Schmitt.
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Especially in the south of Frankfurt, the experts still see communities that are comparatively cheap and are worth a look, especially for commuters. “In the south of Frankfurt, places like Dietzenbach, Dreieich or Dreieichenhain are particularly interesting for buyers,” says Schmitt.
The best locations in Dreieich, Neu-Isenburg, Dietzenbach and Langen were among the most attractive and therefore also the most stable in value, according to Claudia Breforth and Sabrina Trippel, branch managers at von Poll Immobilien in this region. It is comparatively inexpensive in Egelsbach, Offenbach or Wöllstadt, says Arnaud Ahlborn, managing director of the housing company Industria.
But which places are particularly economically interesting for commuters? Anyone who regularly commutes to the big city for work knows that the travel costs add up to money in the long run and sometimes, in the long run, outweigh the savings made when purchasing. The Hamburg Institute of World Economics (HWWI) has now re-examined which locations in the Frankfurt region offer the best ratio in a study for Postbank.
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Using model calculations, the survey, which is available to the Handelsblatt in advance, shows how long it takes until the cost advantage of purchasing cheaper property in the surrounding area is used up by travel costs and time if the new apartment is conveniently located and is therefore 20 percent above the district-wide average. A total of 35 cities and communities in the Frankfurt area were examined.
Commuters have price advantages in the suburbs
The purchase of an averagely expensive 70 square meter apartment in Frankfurt was compared with the purchase in the neighboring districts at the regional average price. The purchase price advantage was offset against the annual commuting costs. In addition to the costs for the ticket in local public transport (ÖPNV) or for the car including petrol, the experts also took into account the increased time required.
According to the model calculation, buying property in Dreieich remains even cheaper than in the Frankfurt city area after 40 years of daily commuting.
(Photo:𧋴px/Getty Images)
The result: In seven places, commuters can live more cheaply than in Frankfurt when commuting on weekdays using local public transport for more than four decades. At the top is Langen, where a buyer of a 70 square meter apartment benefits from the lower prices for around 71.3 years when using public transport.
In addition, the independent city of Offenbach am Main is particularly worth a look: by public transport, the journey from the station in the surrounding city to the main station in Frankfurt only takes eleven minutes – and the price advantage is only used up after 63.9 years.
According to the model calculation, buying property in Dreieich and Neu-Isenburg, Bad Vilbel as well as Hanau and Maintal in the Main-Kinzig district remains even cheaper after 40 years of daily commuting than in the Frankfurt city area. Overall, according to the study, commuters who take buses and trains every day have not used up the purchase price advantage in 15 surrounding cities even after 25 years.
Drivers who commute every day, on the other hand, use their price advantage much more quickly. In the entire Frankfurt area they only remain above the 25-year mark in the five towns of Offenbach, Dreieich, Bad Vilbel, Maintal and Neu-Isenburg. “If you are interested in buying property in the surrounding area, you should not only take into account the low prices per square meter but also plan for travel costs and the time required,” advises Daniela Bellinghausen, regional division manager and member of the South-West regional management of Postbank Immobilien, which is part of Deutsche Bank.
Drivers should search in the surrounding area
If you want to keep your choice of means of transport open for commuting, you should pay attention to nearby places such as Offenbach am Main, Neu-Isenburg and Eschborn, because there the differences between public transport and cars are relatively small.
Engel & Völkers manager Schmitt warns that not everyone is made for commuting. “If you’re moving to the country, you should think carefully about it.” In terms of price, the price difference for buyers between the surrounding area and Frankfurt is still large. According to calculations by the HWWI, buyers in the Main metropolis have to spend an average of at least 2,000 euros per square meter more than in most surrounding cities and towns.
“In principle, however, interested parties must take into account that prices in the surrounding areas are usually more volatile than in Frankfurt or other large cities,” warns Schmitt. Buyers should keep this in mind, even if no one thinks about selling in later years when they buy. His warning: “The prices in the suburbs are often more moderate, but the price risks in the surrounding area are usually slightly higher than in the metropolises.”
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