Buy-to-Let Properties in Freiburg

Andriy Bezborodko · 2026-10-13

You are considering buying an apartment in Freiburg as an investment. The city has a good reputation: university, Black Forest, sunshine, and a population that, unlike in many cities, is expected to continue growing in the future. There will be no shortage of tenants.

Exactly for this reason, purchase prices are high. Freiburg is an object lesson for investors in what happens when everyone believes in demand: the rent covers an increasingly small part of the purchase price. Without a lot of equity or a high tax rate, you will pay a noticeable amount out of pocket every month here.

We have gathered the available figures, calculated the yield ourselves, and played through a let apartment until after tax. Where official figures are missing, we say so.

01Freiburg in numbers

The most important data for landlords in a table. For some values, we could not retrieve a current official figure, which is noted.

The city only releases the Expert Committee's real estate market report for a fee. The purchase prices in this table are therefore asking prices. Actually paid prices for older apartments are usually lower. We could not retrieve a vacancy rate from the 2022 census for Freiburg.

02Population and demand

Freiburg has grown in recent years. According to the statistical offices, 237,244 people lived in the city at the end of 2023, 3% more than five years earlier. In 2022 alone, around 4,300 inhabitants were added.

Unlike in Kiel, Rostock, or Aachen, the forecast in the Wegweiser Kommune also predicts an increase for the future: around 238,400 inhabitants in 2040, 3.2% more than in 2020. Growth is no guarantee of rising rents. However, it suggests that demand for apartments will not wane.

How people live:

• Around 47% single-person households is estimated by the Wegweiser Kommune for 2022. Small apartments are in high demand accordingly.
• University and colleges shape the city. The Albert Ludwigs University is one of the large universities in Baden-Württemberg, added to which are the University of Education, the University of Music, and other colleges. We could not retrieve a current student number from an official source.
• Housing shortage is also politically recognised. The city operates a platform for housing protection where vacancy and excessive rents can be reported.

The asking rents show, however, that the market is reaching limits. According to portal analysis, they were €15.56/sqm in 2024, €14.61/sqm in 2025, and €14.04/sqm in 2026 so far. They are therefore no longer higher than in 2024.

03Economy and labour market

Freiburg is a service city. University, university hospital, administration, research, and tourism shape the labour market more strongly than industry. In September 2026, companies reported the most new vacancies in professional, scientific, and technical services.

The unemployment rate of 4.3% applies to the employment agency district, i.e., Freiburg with the districts of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald and Emmendingen. Nationwide, the rate was 6.4% in September 2026. The employment agency nevertheless sees no turnaround: companies are creating new jobs only cautiously. For landlords, the low unemployment is an argument for solvent tenants, nothing more.

04Rents, purchase prices, and rental yield

The most reliable rent source is the qualified rent index 2025/2026. It is based on over 3,000 data sets from a survey in the summer of 2024, is valid from 01/01/2025 to 31/12/2026, and cites an average net rent of €10.81/sqm.

Freiburg calculates the rent index based on living area and year of construction. A few values for a 55sqm apartment in a medium location with medium standard:

New rent offers are at €14.20/sqm according to the portal miet-check.de, for new-build apartments from construction year 2021 at €21.00/sqm. These are offers, not agreed rents. For an existing apartment, rent control applies for new lettings: a maximum of 10% above the rent index.

Regarding purchase prices, we lack an official figure. According to miet-check.de, condominiums offered over the last twelve months cost an average of €6,128/sqm, in simple locations around €5,650/sqm, in good ones around €6,900/sqm (as of 2026). This includes all construction years including new-builds.

What does this mean for the yield? We divide the purchase price by the annual rent and obtain the purchase price factor. The reciprocal is the gross rental yield.

Even if actual purchase prices are below asking prices: Freiburg moves at 35 to 45 years' rent. This is significantly more than in the other cities in this series. Check your own numbers with the rental yield calculator.

05Districts at a glance

We could not retrieve official purchase prices per district. According to miet-check.de, the asking rents of the postcodes near the city centre are close together, between around €13.90 and €14.40/sqm. We therefore classify the districts by character.

For the rent in the rent index, besides construction year and size, location and equipment also count. The city first determined the location classes for the 2025/2026 rent index based on geo-data, including proximity to doctors, schools, and nurseries.

06Rules for landlords in Freiburg

Freiburg is one of the municipalities that Baden-Württemberg has classified as having a tight housing market.

• Rent control: For a new letting, the rent may be a maximum of 10% above the local reference rent (§ 556d BGB). The current state ordinance expires on 31/12/2026. The state government submitted a new version until 31/12/2029 for hearing in September 2026. Exceptions apply, among other things, for a higher previous rent, after comprehensive modernisation, and for apartments used and let for the first time after 01/10/2014.
• Rent increase cap: In existing tenancies, the rent may rise by a maximum of 15% in three years, and only up to the reference rent. This ordinance also applies until 31/12/2026 and is to be extended.
• Housing protection: The city states that it takes action against vacancy and excessive rents and accepts tips via an online platform. Anyone who wants to leave an apartment empty for a longer period or use it as a holiday home should ask the city beforehand.
• Property transfer tax: In Baden-Württemberg, it is 5.0% of the purchase price. All rates can be found on our page regarding property transfer tax in Baden-Württemberg.

With notary and land registry fees, you will incur purchasing costs of around 6.6% without a broker. For €337,040, that's around €22,200. How notary and land registry costs are composed is shown in our guide to notary fees.

What does the purchase in Baden-Württemberg cost additionally? Enter purchase price, select Baden-Württemberg: The calculator shows property transfer tax, notary, and land registry individually.

07Example calculation: a let apartment in Freiburg

Let's take the Webers: Lena and Jonas, both employed, jointly assessed, with a taxable income of €120,000 per year. They buy a two-room apartment with 55sqm, built in 1985, in a medium location. As the purchase price, we set the average asking price: €6,128/sqm, totalling €337,040. The names are fictitious, the numbers are a calculation example and not a forecast.

The apartment is currently being re-let. Rent control does not allow more than the rent index value plus 10%: €10.27/sqm according to the rent index, i.e., a maximum of €11.29/sqm. The Webers pay the purchasing costs from their own capital: €16,852 property transfer tax and around €5,328 for the notary and land registry, totalling €22,180. The bank finances the purchase price.

Before tax, the Webers pay around €950 extra each month; after tax, it's around €605. Of this, €421 goes into repayment. Without repayment, there remains a deficit of around €184 per month after tax. The apartment therefore does not even cover its own interest and ongoing costs.

And if the actual purchase price is 15% below the asking price, i.e., around €286,500? Then the additional payment after tax drops to around €462 per month, without repayment to around €104. Better, but far from a balanced result.

Anyone who buys in Freiburg is not betting on returns but on the apartment being worth significantly more in 20 or 30 years and the loan then being repaid. No one knows whether that will happen. Therefore, plan for significantly more equity than you need elsewhere. How rental income is taxed is explained in the guide Taxing rental income.

We deliberately do not calculate a comparison with a new-build apartment for Freiburg because we do not have a reliable average price for new apartments. How the higher depreciation for new-builds works is explained in our article on special AfA and degressive AfA; calculate your own depreciation with the AfA calculator.

08Opportunities and risks of an apartment in Freiburg

Freiburg is a very sought-after housing market. For investors, this means: stable demand, low ongoing yield.

What speaks for Freiburg: The population is growing, and the forecast continues to predict an increase. Unemployment is low; the university and hospital ensure a broad range of tenants. The rent index is high at €10.81/sqm, while new offers are even significantly higher. And property transfer tax is lower at 5.0% than in North Rhine-Westphalia or Schleswig-Holstein.

What speaks against it:

• Very high purchase price factor: 35 to 45 years' rent. The cashflow is strongly negative with standard financing, even after tax.
• Regulated rents: Rent control and rent increase caps; the extension until 2029 is planned.
• Falling asking rents since 2024: According to portal analysis from €15.56/sqm (2024) to €14.04/sqm (2026 so far).
• High equity requirement: Anyone who wants to limit the monthly subsidy must use a lot of equity.
• Interest rate change: With large loans, every percentage point of interest has a strong effect. One percentage point more costs around €280 per month before tax in our example.
• Maintenance: In Freiburg, too, many apartments date from the decades before 1990. You pay for renovations via reserves or special levies.
• Resale: Anyone betting on value increases is dependent on market development. Asking prices fell in 2023 and 2025 compared to the previous year.

Advantages and disadvantages of a let condominium regardless of the city can be found in the guide Condominium as an investment.

09Further locations

Further cities in Baden-Württemberg: Overview Baden-Württemberg · Heidelberg · Heilbronn · Karlsruhe · Konstanz · Mannheim · Pforzheim · Stuttgart · Tübingen · Ulm

All locations in comparison: Where is a buy-to-let property worth it? Cities in comparison 2026 · Which federal state is suitable? All 16 in comparison

10Further reading

• Condominium as an investment: Advantages and disadvantages
• Taxing rental income
• Notary fees for property purchases
• Rental yield calculator
• Purchasing costs calculator
• Property transfer tax in Baden-Württemberg

11Sources

All sources retrieved on 13/10/2026.

• Freiburg rent index 2025/2026 (City of Freiburg)
• Wegweiser Kommune Freiburg (Bertelsmann Foundation)
• Labour market report September 2026 (Employment Agency)
• Real estate prices Freiburg (miet-check.de)
• § 32a EStG (2026 tariff)
• All example calculations: own calculation, status 13/10/2026