Corona as an amplifier: real estate on Sylt is getting even more expensive

Corona as an amplifier
Real estate on Sylt is getting even more expensive

Real estate prices on Sylt only seem to know one direction: up. According to brokers, the corona crisis is even accelerating this development. A house in a prime location now costs at least 30 million euros.

The rapid rise in property prices on Sylt is being exacerbated by the corona pandemic. The trend started before spring 2020 and was intensified by the pandemic, said Peter-Georg Wagner, Managing Director of the Real Estate Association (IVD) North. The soaring property prices will continue for second, permanent and holiday homes in Germany, according to the IVD. "On average, the prices for owner-occupied residential property rose by five to ten percent in the Corona year," said Wagner. The increase was even higher on Sylt.

"Prices on the island will rise by 10 to 20 percent and will probably continue to rise," said Peter Peters, real estate agent on Sylt. A house in the coveted mudflat location in Kampen now costs at least 30 million euros. In Keitum, buyers usually have to pay between 12 and 18 million euros for a finished house with a view of the Wadden Sea. The district of North Friesland regularly creates a standard land value table from which these official figures for Sylt emerged.

The agent sees the limited travel options as one of the reasons for this development in the luxury segment. While hotels are closed in lockdown and holiday apartments cannot be rented, the Schleswig-Holstein state ordinance allows second home owners to continue to use their properties on the island. People from Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia or Berlin "buy more freedom with a house or apartment on Sylt," said Peters. That is a welcome change of scenery when trips abroad are not possible or only to a very limited extent due to the corona.

Land prices on Sylt have been rising steadily since the mid-1960s. "In the past ten years alone, prices have almost doubled," says Peters. How things go for prices for private homes on the island also depends on how the spread of the coronavirus develops and how vaccinations progress, said IVD Nord managing director Wagner. The location is decisive here: "An attractive island like Sylt does not lose its attraction." Here, as well as on the East Frisian island of Norderney and in the Tegernsee region, building land is the most expensive in Germany.

. (tagsToTranslate) Economy (t) Corona crisis (t) Real estate prices