Sell your house in Potsdam

Potsdam as a market for houses

Potsdam is the state capital of Brandenburg and borders directly on Berlin and on the districts (Landkreise) of Potsdam-Mittelmark and Havelland. According to the valuation committee for Potsdam (Gutachterausschuss), it takes around 45 minutes by S-Bahn to reach central Berlin. Besides the cadastral district (Gemarkung) of Potsdam, the city includes the urban quarters of Babelsberg, Drewitz, Bornim, Bornstedt, Nedlitz and Sacrow, and since the end of October 2003 also neighbourhoods in the north such as Groß Glienicke, Fahrland and Golm.

In 2025, family homes changed hands mainly in the urban quarters of Potsdam and Babelsberg and in the neighbourhoods of Groß Glienicke and Fahrland. Sales comprised 140 one- and two-family houses and villas and 110 terraced and semi-detached houses. For its analyses, the valuation committee for Potsdam (Gutachterausschuss) divides the city into an inner and an outer urban area; an overview map in the report shows the boundary (p. 121).

The valuation committee analyses villas and country houses separately, because many villa-style buildings were built in Potsdam, above all in the 19th century and the early 20th century. In 2025, 27 villas and country houses were sold, compared with 11 the year before. For small residential villas with up to 300 square metres of living space in average to very good condition, the median from 16 sales in the years 2023 to 2025 was €6,940 per square metre (p. 73 f.).

You will find current BBI properties in Potsdam in our list of properties.

Plot and standard land value in Potsdam

The standard land value (Bodenrichtwert) is an average location value for a notional undeveloped plot with the features of its zone (§ 196 BauGB, Federal Building Code). In Brandenburg, the valuation committees (Gutachterausschüsse) determine it every year as of 1 January. It is published in the BORIS Land Brandenburg portal, free to view and as an official standard land value certificate (Bodenrichtwertauskunft) in PDF format. For Potsdam, the valuation committee set a total of 105 standard land values for building land ready for development as of 1 January 2026; it adjusted 10 of them compared with the previous year, and the rest remained the same.

The report's appendix describes what a good, average and basic residential location (Wohnlage) means; it expressly cannot be used to classify individual addresses, as is done with the rent index (Mietspiegel). For building land for one- and two-family houses, buyers paid an average of €650 per square metre in the inner urban area from 2023 to 2025 (47 sales) and €435 in the outer area (19 sales), in each case excluding plots with water access (p. 27).

From 2021 to 2025, plots with direct or indirect water access sold on average for 1.4 times the standard land value (Bodenrichtwert), in a range of 100 to 245 per cent. However, only 7 sales were analysed (p. 36). Our guide Standard land value in Berlin explains how to read a standard land value and what it does not reflect. The method is the same, but the values for Potsdam are only in BORIS Brandenburg.

How the value of a house in Potsdam is determined

For owner-occupied one- and two-family houses, the valuation often relies on the cost value (Sachwert): what the buildings would cost to build new, less age-related depreciation, plus the land value. Because buyers do not simply pay the construction costs, the result is adjusted to the market with a market adjustment factor (Sachwertfaktor).

In Potsdam, this factor for one- and two-family houses averaged 1.06 in 2025, determined from 48 sales; the individual sales ranged from 0.69 to 1.47 (p. 48). In the inner urban area the average was 1.07, in the outer area 1.05. A factor above 1 means that buyers paid more on average than the calculated cost value. The valuation committee for Potsdam (Gutachterausschuss) found no dependence of the factor on the level of the cost value (p. 49). The same factors can be used for small villas and country houses with up to 300 square metres of living space and no water access (p. 74).

In our initial assessment, we show the land value and the building value separately. How a property valuation works with us.

Redevelopment area or development area: approval for the sale

If a plot is in a formally designated redevelopment area (Sanierungsgebiet), the purchase contract requires the city's written approval (§ 144 para. 2 BauGB, Federal Building Code). In urban development areas (städtebauliche Entwicklungsbereiche), the same applies (§ 169 para. 1 no. 3 BauGB). According to the property market report (Grundstücksmarktbericht) 2025, Potsdam has, among others, the Potsdamer Mitte redevelopment area and the Bornstedter Feld, Babelsberg and Krampnitz development areas, in some cases with parts that have since been lifted (p. 11 f.). The Babelsberg-Nord and Babelsberg-Süd redevelopment areas were lifted on 30 December 2024.

The land register (Grundbuch) shows whether your plot is affected: it then contains a redevelopment note or a development note (§ 143 para. 2, § 165 para. 9 BauGB, Federal Building Code). If the city has excluded the approval requirement in a simplified procedure, no redevelopment note is entered (§ 142 para. 4 BauGB). In the comprehensive procedure, owners pay the city a compensation payment (Ausgleichsbetrag) for the increase in land value resulting from the redevelopment (§ 154 BauGB). Before the sale, ask the city whether it has already been set or paid.

Documents for selling a house in Potsdam

Buyers, banks and notaries almost always ask for the same papers. In Potsdam, the main offices responsible are the land registry at the local court (Amtsgericht) and the city administration:

• Land register extract, as current as possible: from the land registry at Potsdam local court (Amtsgericht) on written application. A simple printout costs €10, an official one €20 (GNotKG schedule of costs).
• Cadastral map (Flurkarte), i.e. the extract from the real estate cadastre: from the Geodatenservice (geodata service) of the state capital Potsdam.
• Information from the register of building encumbrances (Baulastenverzeichnis). It is kept by the building supervisory authority; in Potsdam, as a city not belonging to a district (kreisfreie Stadt), by the city's own building authority (§ 57 para. 1, § 84 para. 4 BbgBO, Brandenburg Building Code). Anyone who demonstrates a legitimate interest may inspect it (§ 84 para. 5 BbgBO). A building encumbrance (Baulast) is not recorded in the land register.
• Standard land value certificate (Bodenrichtwertauskunft) from BORIS Land Brandenburg, available free of charge as a PDF.
• Building permit, approved plans and inspections, where available; plus floor plans and a living space calculation stating the method used.
• Energy performance certificate: present it at the viewing at the latest and hand it over after the purchase contract (§ 80 para. 4 GModG, Building Modernisation Act). If it already exists when an advert appears, its mandatory details belong in the advert (§ 87 GModG). Details in the guide Energy performance certificate and mandatory information.
• If the house is in a redevelopment area or development area: information from the city on whether a compensation payment (Ausgleichsbetrag) has been set or already paid.
• Property tax assessment and proof of modernisation work, for example showing the year the heating or roof was installed.
• If the house is let: all tenancy agreements with addenda and proof of the deposit.

Start with the documents that take longest, such as the building permit and plans or information on the redevelopment area. Obtain the land register extract and the cadastral map last so that they are still current at the notary appointment. With your written power of attorney, your estate agent can also request documents for you.

Agent's commission and real estate transfer tax

When a flat or a single-family house is sold to a private individual, the commission is split (§ 656c, § 656d BGB). These rules are set out in the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch) and apply in Potsdam just as in Berlin. The split does not apply to multi-family buildings and plots. The amount itself is not laid down in any law. The guide Agent's commission works out what this means in figures.

In Brandenburg, the real estate transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer) is 6.5 per cent, applicable to acquisitions from 1 July 2015 (Brandenburg act setting the real estate transfer tax rate, Gesetz über die Festsetzung des Steuersatzes für die Grunderwerbsteuer). On a purchase, it is assessed on the purchase price (§ 8, § 9 GrEStG, Real Estate Transfer Tax Act); as a rule, both parties to the contract are liable for the tax (§ 13 GrEStG). Clarify tax questions relating to the sale with a tax adviser.