Commuters from Seevetal only lose the price advantage of a 70 square meter apartment when using public transport after 32.2 years, but by car after only 12.1 years.
At the end of last year, the difference in square meter prices for existing apartments between Hamburg and the surrounding area in the districts examined was at least 2,800 euros below the Hamburg average of 6,394 euros.
According to von Poll, Pinneberg is particularly impressive due to its location, quick connections via motorways and a 13-minute train ride to Hamburg Central Station with regular connections.
From the end of the month the decision will be made in Seevetal, south of Hamburg. Then the application deadline for one of the coveted 45 properties in the “Nördlich Göhlenbach” residential area ends. Anyone who wins the bid for a single-family home, terraced house or semi-detached house in the upcoming selection process will pay 450 euros per square meter of property. She or he can then build with the obligation to live there for at least ten years.
For many buyers, purchasing home ownership becomes a complicated calculation with many unknowns. Anyone looking for properties to buy in the area around the Hanseatic city today has to take into account that prices there have also risen in the meantime. So it's worth looking at the suburbs where buying a property is still worthwhile.
A study by the Hamburg Institute of World Economics (HWWI) on behalf of Postbank, which is available exclusively to Handelsblatt, names the currently best locations for commuters around the Hanseatic city.
At the top of the list of top places for commuters is Seevetal. A surcharge should therefore pay off for future developers in the “Nördlich Göhlenbach” residential area. Compared to the metropolis, nowhere else in the Hamburg area is it financially more worthwhile to buy property in the long term than in this community. And this is especially true when buying a large apartment.
Manuel Beermann, Head of Real Estate Product Management at Deutsche Bank's private customer bank in Germany, says: "Seevetal is particularly well connected to Hamburg by train. This is ideal for commuters for whom travel costs and time are important." The Metronom regional train takes just 18 minutes from Hamburg Central Station to Hittfeld, one of the most populous towns in the municipality alongside Maschen and Meckelfeld.
Seevetal scores particularly well with families and property buyers with its small but good retail stores. There is also a mix of new developments and charming half-timbered houses in partly village-like structures. Buyers of a 70 square meter apartment get off best by commuting into the city using public transport. For them, the price advantage only runs out after 32.2 years. It is much quicker when using a car. After just 12.1 years, the commuting costs make up for the previous price advantage.
In collaboration with the HWWI, Postbank annually evaluates how long it takes for commuting by car or public transport, as well as the additional time invested, to eat up the advantage of a cheaper property in the surrounding area.
As in many places, buying smaller units of 70 square meters is less worthwhile compared to larger residential units given the price advantage compared to the metropolis of Hamburg. Anyone who commutes by public transport in Buxtehude, for example, will have used up the price advantage after just 19.7 years. With a car it is only 15.9 years.
Despite these calculations, an analysis by the real estate agent Von Poll Immobilien, which is also available exclusively to the Handelsblatt, shows very clearly: There are considerable price differences between Hamburg and the selected 24 surrounding cities and communities.
While the average price per square meter for existing apartments in the Hanseatic city last year was 6,394 euros, it was at least 2,800 euros per square meter lower in the six districts examined: Duchy of Lauenburg, Pinneberg, Segeberg, Stormarn, Harburg and Stade.
So it is hardly surprising that Hamburg was one of the top three commuter cities in Germany last year, behind leaders Munich and Frankfurt am Main. According to data from the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research, around 404,000 employees subject to social security contributions commuted to the metropolis by public transport or car last year. This is an increase of another 5,800 people compared to the previous year.
Although the price difference between the city and the surrounding area is significant, not every move to Hamburg's suburbs is worth it. Beermann therefore recommends: “If you want to buy in the surrounding area, you shouldn’t just look at the cheaper price per square meter.” Instead, “all the advantages and disadvantages of alternative places to live should be taken into account when making the purchase decision.”
Because buyers who do not pay attention to the micro-location of their property and the influence of infrastructure, childcare options and the connection to the big city may end up paying more. Beermann therefore advises buyers to pay attention to one criterion when choosing property in the surrounding area: the purchase makes financial sense if the price advantage is only used up after 25 years of commuting.
Meeting this criterion is much easier with large apartments. According to the study, if you buy a larger residential unit of 120 square meters and work from home for two days, commuting from the Hamburg area is actually worthwhile in all 24 cities and municipalities examined. Even at bottom place Kaltenkirchen in the north of Hamburg, the advantage is only used up after 28.2 years.
If the commuter has to go to the office every working day, the bill will of course look worse. The advantage then lasts for a shorter period of time: in Harsefeld, Lower Saxony, buyers pay after 19.2 years, in Schwarzenbek after 19.7 years and in Mölln, around 50 kilometers away, even after 17.5 years if they commute every day. In Kaltenkirchen this applies after just 17.1 years.
Well-known commuter towns are also Stade and Buxtehude, which have larger employers like the Elbe Clinics and Dow Chemical to the west below the Elbe, but also Airbus just around the corner in Finkenwerder.
Volker Dallmann, branch manager at Von Poll for Buxtehude, Stade and the Harburg district, says: “These locations benefit from their good infrastructure, proximity to the Hamburg metropolitan region and continued solid demand.”
In contrast to the real estate market in many surrounding cities, the price for one square meter in Stade 2026 rose by 2.6 percent in the first six months compared to the same period last year.
The Pinneberg district in the north-west of Hamburg is very popular with commuters: in this year's commuter analysis for Hamburg, Von Poll puts the number of commuters there at 54,580. The reason is the good connection: just three motorway entrances allow drivers to quickly reach the city center, the Elbe tunnel or even go on holiday to the Baltic or North Sea.
With the Nordbahn, the journey takes just 13 minutes several times an hour from Pinneberg S-Bahn station to the main station. Local supplies with supermarkets and retailers as well as public transport are only a few kilometers away, as long as you don't live on the outskirts of the district.
