Appraised values at German foreclosure auctions in 2026: what houses and flats are worth in each federal state

What is a property at a German foreclosure auction worth? Publicly, there are individual cases and estimates, but no ongoing overview across all proceedings. This article analyses the appraised market values of 2,780 upcoming auction dates: by federal state, by property type, per square metre and by year of construction. Every figure comes with a reference date, and the end of the article explains how the figures were produced and what they cannot tell you.

What is the typical appraised value at a German foreclosure auction?

The median appraised market value is 175,000 euros. That is the median of 2,780 upcoming foreclosure auction dates with a value set by the court, at 407 local courts across all 16 federal states. The middle half of properties lies between 68,375 and 349,940 euros. Together, properties with a value of around 921 million euros are up for auction. As of 13 September 2026.

Klaava is a German platform for forced-sale auction dates and records the notices and appraisal reports of current proceedings nationwide. This article is based on 3,652 upcoming auction dates at 429 local courts, 2,780 of which have an appraised market value set by the court.

Why the median and not the average

The arithmetic average is 331,272 euros, almost twice the median. That is due to a small number of very large properties: 115 auction dates, or 4.1 per cent, have an appraised value of one million euros or more. They pull the average up without saying anything about the typical property. The median is the value at which exactly half of the properties lie below and half above.

A third are below 100,000 euros

Many of the low-value properties are garages, plots of land and flats in structurally weak regions. A low appraised value is therefore first a question about the property, and only then an opportunity.

Appraised values by property type

Detached houses at German foreclosure auctions have a median appraised value of 227,000 euros, condominiums 128,000 euros. Two-family houses rank highest at 283,000 euros, followed by apartment buildings at 267,000 euros. Plots of land and garages lie far below. Based on 2,780 auction dates with an appraised value, as of 13 September 2026.

The range for commercial property is so wide because a small shop unit sits alongside a warehouse. A median across this group says little. How undeveloped land is valued is explained in Land at a foreclosure auction.

Why terraced houses rank above detached houses

At first glance, the table runs against expectations: the terraced house at 263,000 euros ranks above the detached house at 227,000 euros. The reason is location, not the building. Terraced houses are mostly found in cities and their surroundings. Detached houses, by contrast, also come up for auction in rural regions with low land prices, particularly in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. Comparing property types therefore always means comparing regions as well.

Appraised values by federal state

Hamburg and Berlin have the highest median appraised values; Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt the lowest. Between Thuringia at 58,200 euros and Hamburg at 624,000 euros lies a factor of almost eleven. North Rhine-Westphalia has the most auction dates with 811, which is 29.2 per cent of all dates with an appraised value. As of 13 September 2026.

We only give a median from 20 auction dates upwards. Below that, a single property can tip the value. Current auction dates for each state are listed in the overview by federal state.

A detached house in Bavaria is worth almost four times as much as in Thuringia

The gap between east and west is clearest for detached houses. In Baden-Württemberg the median is 368,000 euros, in Bavaria 335,000 euros, in Thuringia 88,000 euros and in Saxony-Anhalt 67,600 euros. That puts the factor between Bavaria and Thuringia at 3.8. Auction dates in Thuringia cluster at smaller courts: the local court of Rudolstadt has 34 upcoming dates with an appraised value, with a median of 31,000 euros. Current proceedings there are listed under Forced-sale auctions in Thuringia.

North Rhine-Westphalia: the most auction dates and the cheapest flats in the west

North Rhine-Westphalia has a lower median for condominiums than Lower Saxony, at 90,000 euros, although its median for detached houses, at 310,000 euros, is almost as high as in Bavaria. The explanation lies in a single court district. The local court of Duisburg has 60 of the state's 271 condominiums up for auction, with a median appraised value of 24,500 euros. At the local court of Cologne, the same figure is 250,000 euros, although for only 14 flats. A state median hides differences like these. Anyone searching in North Rhine-Westphalia should filter by court, for example via Forced-sale auctions in North Rhine-Westphalia.

What does a square metre cost at a German foreclosure auction?

The median appraised value per square metre of living space is 1,803 euros. This is based on 783 residential properties for which both appraised value and living space are on record. Condominiums come in at 1,965 euros, detached houses at 1,770 euros and apartment buildings at 1,045 euros per square metre. As of 13 September 2026.

By federal state

Per square metre, the gap between the states becomes even clearer. Listed are the states with at least 25 residential properties for which living space is on record:

A square metre in Berlin therefore has around seven times the appraised value of a square metre in Thuringia.

By year of construction

Buildings from before 1949 come in per square metre at just over half the value of new builds from 2010 onwards. The main reasons are the shorter remaining useful life and the greater need for refurbishment, which experts deduct from the value, and partly location as well. How large these deductions are is shown in Building defects in the foreclosure appraisal report.

Why the appraised value is not the winning bid

The appraised market value is an expert's estimate on a reference date, not the price at which the property is sold. The highest bid can lie below or above it. At the first auction date, the court refuses the award below 50 per cent of the appraised value (§ 85a ZVG), and an entitled party can have it refused below 70 per cent (§ 74a ZVG).

Three reasons why the value in the table is not your price:

• The report is old. In current proceedings, the median time between valuation date and auction date is 395 days, and for a quarter it is more than 588 days. Market conditions may have shifted in that time.
• Ancillary costs and rights that remain in place come on top. Real estate transfer tax, the court fee for the award and land registry costs are added. Rights that remain in place under the auction conditions are taken over by the successful bidder in addition to the cash bid.
• From the second auction date, the thresholds fall away. If the award was refused at the first date because of the 50 or 70 per cent threshold, those thresholds no longer apply at the next date. How this works in practice is explained in The minimum bid at a foreclosure auction.

Klaava currently records the appraised values of upcoming proceedings, but not yet the final winning bids. How far winning bids lie below or above the appraised value on average therefore cannot be read from this data, and this article does not claim otherwise.

Method: how the figures were produced

The analysis covers the auction dates listed as upcoming in the Klaava database on 13 September 2026. The basis is the appraised market value published by the court. Each auction date counts once, and medians are only given from 20 cases. Values per square metre rely on the living space taken from the evaluated appraisal reports.

• Basis: 3,652 upcoming auction dates at 429 local courts, 2,780 of them with an appraised value above zero euros at 407 courts.
• Property type: assigned from the notice and the appraisal report. Mixed properties, such as a house with a workshop, fall into a group according to their main use or under "other"; that group of 178 auction dates is not shown in the table.
• Duplicates: if several plots from one case are offered individually, each offer counts. This affects 3 case numbers and does not change any median.
• Square metres: only residential properties with living space between 20 and 1,000 square metres, 783 in total. For Baden-Württemberg, only 4 such records exist despite 115 auction dates, which is why the state is missing from the square metre table.
• Not included: cancelled auction dates, archived proceedings and winning bids.

How to use these figures for your bid

The tables are a yardstick, not a price tag. They show whether an appraised value is unusually high or low for its region and property type. The bid itself comes from the individual report, the ancillary costs and your own limit.

1. Place the appraised value of your property in context. If it lies well below the median for its state and property type, look for the reason in the report: deductions, defects, rights, location.
2. Compare per square metre. A house with a large plot and little living space looks expensive in total value but may not be per square metre.
3. Check the age of the report. If the valuation date is more than a year old, check current asking prices for comparable properties nearby.
4. Look at court level. A state median mixes city and countryside. The property overview shows auction dates by court and property type.
5. Set your limit before the auction date. Appraised value minus deductions for visible defects minus ancillary costs gives your ceiling, see The appraised market value in the report.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a house cost at a German foreclosure auction on average? In current proceedings, a detached house has a median appraised value of 227,000 euros, as of 13 September 2026. The middle half lies between 116,000 and 381,500 euros. The actual winning bid can differ from this.

What is a condominium at a German foreclosure auction worth? The median is 128,000 euros from 661 auction dates, or 1,965 euros per square metre. The range is wide: at the local court of Duisburg, the median appraised value of 60 flats is 24,500 euros, in Berlin it is 310,000 euros.

In which federal state are foreclosure auctions cheapest? In Thuringia, with a median appraised value of 58,200 euros, followed by Saxony at 71,000 euros and Saxony-Anhalt at 71,750 euros. Values are highest in Hamburg at 624,000 euros and Berlin at 430,000 euros. Based on 2,780 auction dates, as of 13 September 2026.

Can you buy a property below its appraised value at a foreclosure auction? It is possible, but not the rule for every property. At the first auction date, the court refuses the award below 50 per cent of the appraised value, and entitled parties can have it refused below 70 per cent. From the second auction date, these thresholds no longer apply.

How up to date is the appraised value in the report? In current proceedings, the median time between valuation date and auction date is 395 days. The value therefore usually describes the situation more than a year earlier and does not reflect later damage or market changes.

How many foreclosure auctions are there in Germany? On 13 September 2026, Klaava listed 3,652 upcoming auction dates at 429 local courts in all 16 federal states. Most of them are in North Rhine-Westphalia with 1,000 dates, followed by Bavaria with 418 and Hesse with 334.

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How the appraised market value in the report comes about is explained in The appraised market value in the report. The full process is described in How a foreclosure auction works.

This article is general information. It does not replace legal advice from a qualified lawyer.