Real Estate Investment in Konstanz: Facts, Locations, and an Honest Calculation

Andriy Bezborodko · 2026-10-13

86,691 | Inhabitants | official, as of 31.12.2025 2.3% | Vacancy | 2022 census, as of 15.05.2022 €11.37/m² | Avg. net rent | Rent index survey 2025 €4,260/m² | Used apartment, mid-range location | Appraisal committee Konstanz, 2025

Konstanz is a city where vacant apartments are quickly snapped up. In the 2022 census, only 2.3% of apartments were vacant, less than in Freiburg or Munich (2.4% each). Two universities, Lake Constance, and Switzerland right behind the old town ensure demand that has exceeded supply for years.

For buyers, this has two sides. A used apartment in a mid-range location costs around €4,260 per square meter, and the real estate transfer tax in Baden-Württemberg is 5%. And the rules are currently changing: the state government wants to put Konstanz under rent control for the first time starting in 2027.

We have compiled the official figures and, at the end, calculate a used and a new apartment, before and after taxes.

Konstanz boasts a vacancy rate of only 2.3% according to the 2022 census, over half single households, around 14,000 students at the university and HTWG, and a 60% service-based economy. In contrast, there are purchase prices of around €4,260/m² in the stock, a gross rental yield under 3% with rents according to the rent index, 5% real estate transfer tax, a population that has stagnated since 2022, and planned rent control from 2027. When buying today, already calculate with the stricter rules of tomorrow.

01Konstanz in numbers

All values we use for classification, with source and status.

02Population and demand

Konstanz has grown strongly over two decades. The city counted almost 73,800 inhabitants at the end of 2000, and by the end of 2025, there were 87,178, a plus of 18%. In the last ten years, growth was already smaller at 3.4%. Since 2022, the number has been treading water, and in 2025, it fell slightly for the first time. The State Statistical Office counts 86,691 inhabitants at the end of 2025 based on the 2022 census.

Why is that? The city names two reasons: more deaths than births and families moving to the cheaper surrounding area because they cannot find a suitable apartment in Konstanz. Demand has therefore not decreased, it is shifting. The city's own forecast sees Konstanz at 94,000 to 96,500 inhabitants by 2045, if enough is built.

Whoever rents in Konstanz often lives alone. In the 2022 census, 50.5% of households were single-person households, and only 28.2% of apartments were occupied by their owners. The university had 9,865 students in the winter semester 2025/26, the HTWG around 4,500. Together, that's about 14,000 young people in a city with 87,000 inhabitants.

03Economy and labor market

Konstanz is a service city. Of the 33,866 social security-contributing employees at the work location on 30.06.2025, a good 60% worked in other services, such as universities, administration, health, and corporate services. Another 28.5% worked in trade, hospitality, and transport, only 10.8% in manufacturing. Since 2015, the number of jobs has risen by a good 14%.

A special feature is the border. Many people live in Konstanz and work in Switzerland. German employment statistics capture these cross-border commuters only partially. For landlords, this is a tenant base with often high incomes that does not appear completely in any labor market figure. At the same time, they depend on the exchange rate and the Swiss labor market.

4.2% | Unemployment rate district | September 2026 2,085 | Unemployed in the city | June 2026 33,866 | Employees at work location | 30.06.2025 12,046 | In-commuters | 30.06.2025

An unemployment rate only for the city of Konstanz is not regularly published. For the district of Konstanz, it was 4.2% in September 2026. In the city, 2,085 people were registered as unemployed in June 2026. The city itself estimates unemployment to be roughly at the state level.

04Rents, purchase prices, and rental yield

Since 01.12.2025, a new joint rent index for Konstanz, Allensbach, and Reichenau has been in force. The average net rent of all surveyed contracts was €11.37/m² in Konstanz. The base rent depends on size and year of construction. An apartment with 70 to 75 m² from the years 1973 to 1978 comes to €9.58/m², an apartment with 45 to 50 m² from the years 2023 to 2025 to €15.56/m². Add to that surcharges and deductions in percent.

The 2022 census came to an average net cold rent of €9.93/m². Between the census and the rent index, there are three and a half years during which rents rose.

For purchase prices, the city's appraisal committee evaluates all contracts. For a used three- to four-room apartment from the years 1970 to 1989 with mid-range equipment, it gives a comparison value of €4,260/m² in mid-range and €4,840/m² in good residential locations for 2025. Offers for apartments from construction year 2016 were at an average of €7,083/m² in October 2026.

Census average €9.93/m² (Factor 35.8) | 2.80 | 2.8% Rent index built 1975, 70 m², with surcharges €10.35/m² (Factor 34.3) | 2.92 | 2.92% Ø Surveyed rent index €11.37/m² (Factor 31.2) | 3.20 | 3.2% Upper range rent index €12.73/m² (Factor 27.9) | 3.59 | 3.6%

Own calculation, status 13.10.2026: Purchase price €4,260/m² (Appraisal committee Konstanz, mid-range, 2025) divided by the annual net cold rent per m². Before costs and taxes.

At a rent level according to the rent index, the gross yield remains under 3%. A rent at the upper end of the range is still permissible today when newly rented out, but probably no longer from 2027.

05Districts overview

Konstanz consists of 15 districts. The city publishes how many people live there and how much the districts have grown since 2000. Prices per district are not freely available. For the rent, the location class in the street directory of the rent index counts.

06Rules for landlords in Konstanz

Konstanz is a special case this year. Today, no rent control applies here. When newly rented out, the rent level is therefore freely negotiable, limited only by the bans on rent price inflation and usury. In the current contract, the general cap limit of 20% in three years applies.

This is expected to change. In September 2026, the state government put drafts for new ordinances from 01.01.2027 into hearing. According to this, 133 municipalities are to be considered tense housing markets, Konstanz among them. Then the rent for a new lease could be at most 10% above the local comparative rent, and increases in the current contract would be limited to 15% in three years.

The ordinance is not yet decided as of 13.10.2026. Anyone buying today should still calculate as if rent control were coming. A rent that is agreed far above the rent index today may possibly no longer be achievable after a change of tenant from 2027.

When buying, you pay 5.0% real estate transfer tax in Baden-Württemberg. Notary and land register cost around 1.6 to 1.7% of the purchase price with financing. Without a broker, you come to about 6.6 to 6.7% purchase costs.

07Example calculation: a rented apartment in Konstanz

Let's take Lukas, 44, single, employed with taxable income of €80,000. He buys a rented three-room apartment with 70 m², built in 1975, in a mid-range location. The purchase price corresponds to the comparison value of the appraisal committee for 2025. The rent is exactly at rent index level.

Purchase price (70 m² × €4,260/m²) | €298,200 ~ Real estate transfer tax BW 5.0% | €14,910 ~ Notary and land register (with land charge €298,200) | €4,959 = Purchase costs from equity | €19,869 Loan (purchase price) | €298,200 ~ Interest 3.8% and repayment 1.5% (assumption) | €15,805 per year

| per year | per month

Net cold rent (€10.35/m², rent index 2025 with surcharges) | €8,694 | €725 Interest | −€11,332 | −€944 Repayment | −€4,473 | −€373 Non-allocable costs (mgmt, reserve, €1.75/m², assumption) | −€1,470 | −€123 = Cashflow before taxes | −€8,581 | −€715 ~ Depreciation 2% on building share (80%, assumption) | €5,064 | €422 ~ Loss from rental | −€9,172 | −€764 Tax savings (Tariff 2026 with Soli, without church tax) | +€4,104 | +€342 = Cashflow after taxes | −€4,477 | −€373

Lukas pays about €373 per month in this example, after taxes. The same amount flows into the repayment and thus into his own assets.

Interest 1 percentage point lower | 249 | +€249 Rent at the average of the index survey (€11.37/m²) | 71 | +€71 Two months vacancy per year | -121 | −€121 Interest 1 percentage point higher | -249 | −€249

08Example calculation: new construction

Compared to the used apartment, depreciation in the first year is more than two and a half times as high (€13,522 instead of €5,064). For this, the square meter costs two-thirds more. Lukas pays about €706 before taxes here, but after taxes it's only about €90 because the higher depreciation does a lot at his tax rate.

Konstanz is a market with extremely low vacancy but also very high entry prices. Gross yields of around 3% mean that a fully financed purchase is only roughly balanced after taxes if the repayment is counted as assets. The leverage lies in the high demand and the likely introduction of rent control in 2027.