Tax Benefits of Property Investment in Dortmund (AfA Guide)
Depreciation, deductible costs and the 10-year tax-free exit — Germany's investor tax stack. Verified opportunities in Dortmund with English-speaking notary, financing and tax support.
Schedule Free ConsultationIllustrative estimate at a 3.8% assumed interest rate (10y fixed, June 2026 market range 3.6–3.9%) plus 2% initial amortisation. Actual terms depend on the property, your profile and the lender. Not financial advice.
Tax Benefits & AfA in Dortmund: what to know
Germany rewards long-term landlords: the building (never the land) depreciates at 2% p.a. (completed 1925–2022), 2.5% (pre-1925) or 3% (from 2023), and qualifying new projects can elect 5% degressive AfA (construction start 10/2023–09/2029). On a €180,000 purchase in Dortmund, that is thousands of euros of paper deduction annually against rental income.
Add fully deductible mortgage interest, management, maintenance and travel costs, and rentals often run tax-neutral or negative in early years while building equity. The endgame: after the 10-year Spekulationsfrist, private sale gains are entirely tax-free — the core of the German buy-and-hold thesis.
The Dortmund market in numbers
Dortmund (Nordrhein-Westfalen) has 612,165 residents. Existing apartments currently average around €2,605/m² (district spread roughly €1,474–€4,902/m²), with new-builds at about €4,550/m². Average asking cold rent is about €10.1/m², putting the gross rental yield near 4.1-4.7%.
Price momentum: +7.2% year-on-year. Apartment asking prices +9.8% over 5 years (immowelt, 7/2026); after the 2023 rate shock (-9.9%) rising again since 2024. Gutachterausschuss (actual 2025 transaction prices): existing condos city-wide ~+5%, Nordstadt +12.2%; detached houses +1.4%, terraced/semi-detached +2.5%, multi-family +2.9%.
Vacancy: roughly 2.2% (Stadt Dortmund, Amt für Wohnen, Wohnungsmarktbericht 2025 (housing market monitoring 2024, surveyed vacancy 2.2% of the 2023 housing stoc…). That is around the healthy fluctuation reserve of a functioning market.
Where to buy in Dortmund
Investment demand concentrates in Kreuzviertel, Innenstadt-Ost, Hörde / Phoenix-See, where letting is fastest and long-term value is most defensible. Value- and yield-oriented buyers look at Nordstadt and Aplerbeck, which trade lower and typically deliver higher gross yields with more management intensity.
Kreuzviertel (Innenstadt-West): Popular pre-war and scene quarter with cafés and Gründerzeit houses, in strong demand with students and young families. Apartments trade around €2,953–€3,197/m².
Innenstadt-Ost (Kaiserviertel/Gartenstadt): Comfortable middle-class pre-war quarter around Kaiserstrasse with the highest inner-city prices. Apartments trade around €3,103–€3,359/m².
Hörde / Phoenix-See: Former steelworks site, now a flagship new-build quarter around an artificial lake; lakeside top locations trade well above the district average. Apartments trade around €2,292–€3,534/m².
Hombruch (incl. Kirchhörde): Green, family-oriented southern borough near TU Dortmund with the city's highest transaction counts and turnover. Apartments trade around €2,830–€3,022/m².
Nordstadt (Innenstadt-Nord): Cheapest, youngest and most migrant-shaped entry market (average age 36) with the strongest price momentum: existing condos +12.2% in 2025. Apartments trade around €1,412–€2,199/m².
Aplerbeck: Established, older (avg age 47) residential suburb in the south-east with a village core and solid single-family-home demand. Apartments trade around €2,593–€2,593/m².
Taxes & buying costs in Dortmund
Property transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer) in Nordrhein-Westfalen is 6.5%. Add approximately 2% for notary and land registry (statutory GNotKG fees) plus any brokerage/service fee — total acquisition costs typically run 8–12% on top of the purchase price, and German banks generally do not finance them.
Held privately, the property can be sold tax-free after the 10-year Spekulationsfrist; before that, gains are taxed at your personal rate. Depreciation (AfA) shelters rental income: 2% p.a. for pre-2023 buildings, 3% for buildings completed from 2023, and a 5% degressive option for qualifying new projects started before 30.09.2029.
Dortmund is a designated tight housing market: the Mietpreisbremse caps new-lease rents at roughly 10% above the local comparative rent (Mietspiegel), and the reduced Kappungsgrenze limits in-tenancy increases to 15% within three years. Factor the achievable regulated rent — not the asking-rent headline — into your underwriting.
Data & sources
All figures verified July 2026 against primary sources. Asking prices typically run 5–15% above notarised transaction values — where both exist, the source basis is stated.
Population: Stadt Dortmund, online statistics 'Bevölkerung in Zahlen 2025' (population register, 2025, published 12.02.2026), https://www.dortmund.de….
Purchase prices: immowelt Price Map, apartments Dortmund, as of 01.07.2026 (existing stock, asking prices.
Rents: wohnungsboerse.net Mietspiegel Dortmund, asking cold rents, as of end April 2026 (avg 10.10 EUR/m2.
Yield: computed from price+rent above (8.84-10.10 EUR/m2 x 12 / 2,605 EUR/m2).
Price trend: immowelt price development Dortmund 7/2026 (1yr +7.2%), https://www.immowelt.de/immobilienpreise/dortmund .
Vacancy: Stadt Dortmund, Amt für Wohnen, Wohnungsmarktbericht 2025 (housing market monitoring 2024, surveyed vacancy 2.2% of the 2023 housing stoc….
Frequently asked questions
Does AfA apply if I live abroad?
Yes. Non-resident landlords file a German tax return on German rental income and use identical AfA and deduction rules; Germany's treaty network generally prevents double taxation. From 2025, the first-bracket exemption improved for non-residents — get a German tax adviser (we introduce English-speaking ones).
Can foreigners buy investment property in Dortmund?
Yes. Non-residents can buy property in Dortmund without German citizenship or residency. Financing is available to expats and Blue Card holders; non-residents typically need 40–50% equity, German tax residents 10–20%.
What are the total buying costs in Dortmund?
On top of the purchase price, budget 6.5% property transfer tax (Nordrhein-Westfalen), about 2% notary and land registry, plus any brokerage/service fee — commonly 8–12% of the price in total.
What rental yield can I expect in Dortmund?
Gross yields in Dortmund average around 4.1-4.7%, higher in value districts such as Nordstadt and Aplerbeck and lower in prime locations like Kreuzviertel.
How much is property per square metre in Dortmund?
Existing apartments average about €2,605/m² to buy and roughly €10.1/m² cold rent per month, varying significantly by neighbourhood and condition.