Three questions decide whether anything else matters: can you own it, does the register hold, and is your deposit protected. Here are the answers for Germany, each with the law or source it rests on. The answers are written for EU and EEA citizens; where rules differ for other nationals, the ownership answer says so. As of September 2026.
The core answers
Can you buy property here as an EU citizen?
Full ownership without restriction.
Legal basis: BGB (German Civil Code); Land Register Code
Is your deposit protected by law?
MaBV § 3: priority notice, release undertaking and instalments by construction progress; § 7 guarantee; trade supervision
Source: gesetze-im-internet.de · 2024
Residence
EU freedom of movement: an Austrian has the right of residence regardless of any property purchase
Source: eur-lex.europa.eu
First thing to check
- Whether the developer complies with the MaBV. Priority notice, release declaration and instalments by construction progress are mandatory, not negotiable.
All 24 dimensions
Scale 0 to 100, higher is better. Each value shows where it comes from: tied to a published index, own research with a source on file, or approximated from comparable countries.
Law and register
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Property rights | 87 | Index |
| Register | 95 | Research |
| Deposit protection | 100 | Research |
| Rule of law | 89 | Index |
| Freedom from corruption | 82 | Index |
| Political stability | 64 | Index |
Money and market
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase costs | 17 | Index |
| Tax burden | 7 | Index |
| Entry price | 33 | Index |
| Rental yield | 28 | Research |
| Price development | 16 | Index |
| Demand pipeline | 17 | Index |
Residence and access
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Residence | 100 | Research |
| Exit | 43 | Index |
| Currency | 64 | Index |
| Accessibility | 100 | Research |
Place and building stock
| Dimension | Score | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Climate | 95 | Index |
| Natural hazards | 45 | Index |
| Utilities | 84 | Index |
| Build quality | 75 | Research |
| Construction cost | 21 | Research |
| Quality of life | 93 | Index |
| Healthcare | 69 | Index |
Researched individually
These entries do not come from an index but from research for this country. The source is given with each.
Residence
EU freedom of movement: an Austrian national has a right of residence irrespective of any property purchase
Source: eur-lex.europa.eu · 2004
Deposit protection
MaBV (Brokers and Property Developers Ordinance) § 3: priority notice, release undertaking and instalment plan in line with construction progress; § 7 surety bond; trade supervision
Source: gesetze-im-internet.de · 2024
Accessibility
504 km great-circle distance from Munich
Source: Grosskreisentfernung Muenchen-Hauptstadt · 2026
Build quality
BQCI 9,5/15 (WB Doing Business 2020) + WGI Government Effectiveness 81,41 (2024), Gewicht 35/65
Source: archive.doingbusiness.org · 2019
Place and building materials
What to check in Germany
Derived from the four weakest dimensions of this country - statistically, that is where buyers lose money.
- Tax burden. The ongoing tax burden on ownership and rental income, and whether a double taxation treaty applies.
- Price development. Whether price growth was real or only nominal - with inflation taken out.
- Purchase costs. The actual purchase costs including transfer tax, notary, registration and agent's commission.
- Demand pipeline. Whether there is real demand behind it: migration, employment, household formation.
Developers and projects in Germany
The developer index records 40 projects and 22 developers in Germany without rating them, each entry with source and retrieval date. An excerpt:
| Project | Place | Developer | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| wagnisSHARE | Augsburg | wagnis eG | completed |
| Leben im Fläming e.G. | Bad Belzig | Leben im Fläming e.G. | completed |
| Fortuna | Bamberg | Instone Real Estate | on sale |
| Wohnprojekt Herkenrath | Bergisch Gladbach | Christlich-ökologische Wohngenossenschaft (CÖW) | under construction |
| HänselKarree | Berlin-Baumschulenweg | Wohnungsbau-Genossenschaft "Treptow Nord" eG | under construction |
| Radenzer Straße | Berlin-Baumschulenweg | Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft "Am Ostseeplatz" eG | planned |
| Halemweg | Berlin-Charlottenburg | Charlottenburger Baugenossenschaft / Berliner Baugenossenschaft | completed |
| Friedenauer Höhe (Marlene & Dietrich) | Berlin-Friedenau | Instone Real Estate | on sale |
| Werle (WSX) | Berlin-Friedrichshagen | GSP eG Genossenschaft selbstverwalteter Projekte | under construction |
| Wallensteinstrasse (WAL) | Berlin-Karlshorst | GSP eG Genossenschaft selbstverwalteter Projekte | under construction |
| Salvador-Allende-Straße | Berlin-Köpenick | WBG "Amtsfeld" eG | under construction |
| Schillingstraße | Berlin-Mitte | Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft Solidarität eG | under construction |
Individual project pages are currently in German; they contain the recorded data, the source and the retrieval date.
All 40 projects and 22 developers in Germany
What the guide cannot do
A country can look good in all three columns and the specific property can still be a total loss. The reverse is also true: in a country with a weak register, a cleanly titled plot can be entirely unproblematic. The guide tells you what the environment looks like. Whether this one property holds up is decided by the review.