Market Analysis
Berlin housing market report 2015
Housing market report 2015: first signs of price stabilisation in Berlin
Berlin's property market showed first signs of consolidation in 2015. Listing prices peaked at EUR 3,663 per sqm at mid-year and eased to EUR 3,426 by year end.
Peter Guthmann
The housing market report 2015, presented in mid-March, shows first signs of stabilisation in Berlin's property market after years of price increases.
Purchase prices: high but no longer rising
The average listing price per square metre peaked at 3,663 euros in mid-2015. By year end it had dropped to 3,426 euros. New build apartments remained significantly higher at an average of 4,343 euros per square metre.
According to the report's authors, the market shifted further towards the upper price segment: 64 percent of all listings in 2015 were priced above 3,000 euros per square metre. This applied mainly to the inner-city boroughs. In Spandau and Marzahn-Hellersdorf, prices were still noticeably lower.
Building permits on a record course
At the same time, authorities approved the construction of 22,365 apartments in 2015, 16.5 percent more than the year before. The strongest growth came from work on existing buildings (loft conversions, changes of use), up 56.1 percent with 4,430 additional apartments. 17,935 approved apartments will be new builds, a third of them condominiums. Most approvals went to Treptow-Koepenick, Mitte and Lichtenberg. The figure is approaching 1990s levels; the peak was 29,457 approvals in 1995.
What this means for owners and investors
The slight price correction at year end combined with high building permit numbers paints a nuanced picture. Berlin's apartment market remains active, but the phase where nearly every property automatically gained value may give way to one where location and quality matter more for investment success. The market development shows: differentiation is becoming more important.