Cologne is the fourth largest city with media, insurance and automotive, medium purchasing power and prices that allow yields again after the correction. The 6.5 percent transfer tax and the 475 trade tax multiplier are the flip side.
Buy or rent?
27.4 years of rentpurchase price divided by annual cold rentBetween 25 and 30 it is balanced: buying pays off with a long horizon and equity.
milinia’s take
- Purchase prices €4,600 per square metre, Lindenthal and Marienburg over €6,500, Chorweiler and Porz around €3,000.
- New lettings €14, Ehrenfeld, the Südstadt and the Belgian Quarter €16 to €18.
- Salaries in media, insurance and automotive above average, purchasing power index 104.
- Right of the Rhine and in Porz, Kalk and Mülheim 4.5 percent yields with good transport links.
Living
Existing flats cost €4,600 per square metre, in Lindenthal, Marienburg and the Südstadt over €6,500, in Chorweiler, Porz and Kalk around €3,000. New lettings at €14 excluding utilities, in Ehrenfeld, Nippes and the Belgian Quarter €16 to €18. The correction since 2022 came to around 10 percent. Cologne grows but builds too little; construction has sat below demand for years, and the city has two large development areas in the pipeline with the Deutzer Hafen and Parkstadt Süd.
Earning
Median €4,500 gross, above that in media, insurance, automotive and chemicals, below in hospitality and culture. Purchasing power index 104, well below Düsseldorf because Cologne has more students, creatives and service workers. The university with 50,000 students and the media houses shape the rental market for small flats.
Taxes and levies
Transfer tax 6.5 percent as everywhere in North Rhine-Westphalia. The trade tax multiplier of 475 percent is the second highest of the twelve cities, the property tax multiplier after the reform 475. Church tax 9 percent; Cologne with its archdiocese is the most church-affiliated big city in the west.
Investing
The gross yield sits at 3.7 percent, right of the Rhine in Kalk, Mülheim and Porz at 4.5. Among the western million cities Cologne has the best ratio of price to demand: the city grows, prices sit below Düsseldorf, and the Deutzer Hafen will upgrade Mülheim and Deutz from 2028. Risks are the traffic situation and the notoriously slow administration that delays building permits. For investors with a medium budget Cologne is the most interesting choice in the west.
milinia’s view
Cologne is the city where quality of life and yield fit together once you cross the Rhine. Whoever buys on the right bank has a cathedral view and 4.5 percent.
Try it yourself
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