Berlin Apartment Building Market Q2 2026

Prices and Multiples since 2000

In 2000, the average purchase price for apartment buildings in Berlin stood at €500 per square metre of living space, with the multiple at 11.2 times the annual net cold rent. Little changed by 2004 (€680 / 12.5). External WCs, coal stoves and accumulated maintenance backlogs shaped large parts of the stock, and in the pre-war districts of East Berlin vacancy was estimated at more than 30 percent in 1998. From 2010, both figures rose markedly, from €960 and 13.9 to €3,230 and 32.1 in 2021. Falling key interest rates, sustained in-migration and entry prices that were low by European standards fall within this period. The price reached its high of €3,300 in 2022, the multiple already in 2021. Both have declined since, to €2,390 per sqm and 21.1 as at 19 August 2026. For the price, that corresponds roughly to the 2017 level; for the multiple, the figure sits between 2014 and 2015.

Transactions, Prices and Multiples for Apartment Buildings in 2026

With 361 transactions in Q1/Q2 2026, the market matches the previous year in volume terms.

Neukölln leads with 39 sales, followed by Reinickendorf (39), Wilmersdorf (26) and Steglitz.

Deal Sizes

The average total price paid per apartment building has fallen further, from €6,221,000 in 2024 to €3,870,000 in the current year. Smaller assets and lower per-square-metre prices dominate the market. Large-volume transactions have become less frequent.

Transaction Volume

The first half of 2026 was strong overall. Transaction volume across Q1, Q2 and the part of Q3 recorded to date stands at 1.4B €.

The map shows the breakdown by borough.

Multiples

The median multiple stands at 21.1 times the annual net cold rent in 2026. That is the lowest reading since 2014 (19.7) and 11.0 below the 2021 peak of 32.1, a decline of 34 percent. Year on year, only Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf holds its multiple, and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is unchanged. The largest declines are in Lichtenberg and Reinickendorf. Over five years, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf leads the declines, followed by Marzahn-Hellersdorf and Mitte, while the smallest declines are in Neukölln, Pankow and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. The highest multiples continue to be achieved in Mitte.

Price per Square Metre

The median transaction price per square metre of living space on Berlin's apartment building market rose from €2,490 per sqm (2018) to its peak of €2,970 per sqm in 2022. It currently stands at €2,110 per sqm. The median sits below the average price of €2,390 per sqm, which points to further differentiation within the market for apartment buildings.

Buyer Profiles

Who is currently acquiring Berlin apartment buildings? The spectrum ranges from well-capitalised family offices to long-term portfolio holders. Price segment, locational preference, strategy and investment horizon differ substantially.

• Family offices and multi-family offices typically operate in the €5 million to €20+ million segment with considerable flexibility. They pursue value-add and opportunistic strategies with a medium-term horizon. As well-capitalised buyers, they can respond rapidly to market opportunities.
• Private investors mostly operate in the €2 million to €5 million segment and focus on value-add strategies with a pronounced local or regional connection. Their decisions are made in an agile and individual manner, with investments frequently designed for intergenerational transfer.
• Developers invest variably depending on the individual project and in some cases pay very high purchase prices. Their focus is on development, refurbishment and repositioning, with a clear view of value-enhancement potential, planning law and condominium conversion opportunities.
• Portfolio holders — whether private individuals or corporate entities — invest variably, typically as long-term portfolio additions. They focus on long-term holdings with stable, reliable rental income and plannable increases. Portfolio holders often have clear locational preferences in order to consolidate management processes.
• Funds operate from €20 million upwards or acquire large portfolios. They pursue core and core-plus strategies with an ESG focus, characterised by longer decision-making processes and diversification.

Outlook for the Second Half of 2026

Berlin's market for apartment buildings has turned. Buyers today face a multiple of 21.1 times the annual net cold rent, around eleven lower than in 2021, and a price of €2,390 per sqm per square metre against €3,300 in 2022.

Over 15 years, the average annual change in the median price per square metre is 5.4 %, over ten years 1.4 %. The metric compares the annual averages of all notarised sales. It does not include the rent collected over that period, nor the trajectory of any individual building. For long-standing private owners, among them many family holdings, the entry point usually lies much further back. Measured against the year 2000, the median price per square metre today is 4.8 times higher, equivalent to 6.2 percent annual growth in value over 26 years.

Ten-year mortgage loans stood at around 1.9 percent in 2016 and at 3.82 percent in June 2026. Refinancing costs close to 2 percentage points more. A multiple of 21.1 arithmetically equates to a gross rental yield of 4.7 percent before operating costs. Against this backdrop, apartment buildings in Berlin are of clear interest to buyers.

What follows from this for owners and sellers depends on the individual asset and on personal circumstances. Outstanding debt and the end of the fixed-rate period play a part, as does the gap between in-place rent and the rent index, the accumulated maintenance requirement, and the affordability of maintenance and management.

There is of course uncertainty about how values will develop over the coming years, on the seller side as much as on the buyer side.

On the seller side, individual motives deserve closer attention. On the buyer side, financeability and risk mitigation come first.

Methodology

Data sources: Gutachterausschuss für Grundstückswerte in Berlin (transaction data) and IMV Immobilien-Marktdaten-Vertriebs GmbH (asking-price data). Own calculation, aggregation and presentation across Berlin’s spatial levels (borough, district, neighbourhood). The figures shown are based on a model-based analysis and do not replace official statistics; despite careful processing, deviations cannot be ruled out.