Blog "Visit Berlin"

Welcome to Berlin Property Market Analysis

The property market in Berlin has changed over the last 5 years.

Previously it was possible to buy a flat in the city center for under 1,000 eur per square meter. Now the average prices are around 1,200 eur per square meter. Many foreign investors have bought flats in old buildings (so-called "Altbau", built before 1910). Prices in new built houses are as high as 3,000-4,000 eur per square meter

What you need To Know when Bying Property in Berlin?

Majority of hauses in Berlin where built at least 50-60 years ago, and some of those which survived the World War II are already over 100 years old.

This means that the flats in these hauses often need rennovation:

change electric wires. Old houses often have only one main wire supplying electricity to all rooms in the flat. In old days when people did not have so many electrical devices it was enough, but nowdays with flat screen TVs, CD and Radio Systems in each room, fridge, dishwasher, toaster, microwave oven in the kitchen - one main electrical wire is not enough.
change the windows. Many windows are old wooden windows, which do not protect very well the flat from cold in winter. It is better to change them to Double Glazing/PVC windows. The new windows also make the flat quiter, because apart from good energy saving qualities they have good sound isolation.
change the pipes in kitchen and bathroom. The life time of a pipe is about 20-30 years. So if the house is already 50 years old - it means that soon you can get problems with pipes.
replan and rebuild the walls. In some houses built in 1900 there was no bathroom in the flat. The bathrooms and toilets were located in the ground floor and were shared. To make such flat comfortable you might need to replan the location of some walls and build a bothroom. This is quite common activity and is not a big surprise for builders in Berlin.
change heating system. Some old houses still have only oven used for heating. It means that in winter you have to load it with coal every day and start the fire. If you do not do this procedure for couple of days - your flat gets cold. If you buy such flat - the best solution is to install central gas heating.

Price Trend

Information about the trend of prices in different areas of Berlin you can find in report called "Berlin Mietspiegel", issues every 2 years. The latest report was issued in June 2011.

Why Buy Property in Berlin?

If the houses are so old and require some rennovation work, then why buy property in Berlin?

In table below we show Pros and Cons.

PROs	CONs
Low cost of square meter. The price in Berlin is still between 1,000 - 2,000 euros per square meter. This is low price comparing to such cities like London, Paris, Barcelona, etc.	Will Berlin become as expencieve as other capitals? It is well known, that there is not as many companies in Berlin as in the South of Germany. They say that Berlin is city of students, artists and pulic sector workers.
Clean city in all ways. Clean air, clean streets, clean water. There is no smog as in other capitals. You can dring water from tap.
Good infrastructure. S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Buses, Trams and special roads and pathes for bicycles. You can get to any place in Berlin using public transport.