Berlin Properties Moabit 2023

What a history. What a future!

The inner-city location between major waterways helped Moabit to industrial prosperity in earlier times, which resulted in mostly workers settling in Moabit. In the course of industrialisation, the population grew from 10,000 to 93,000 between 1858 and 1890. The district developed into a dense working and residential area. People lived in very tight quarters in precarious housing conditions. Under the Nazis, Moabit, which was also called the "red island", was marked by resistance against the regime and street fights between communist workers and the SA brigades. In November 1943, the Beusselkiez was partially destroyed by bombing raids, and in the last days of the war almost two thirds of the flats fell victim to street fighting. It was not until reunification that Moabit moved back into the centre of Berlin. In 2001, Tiergarten, to which Moabit belonged, was merged with Mitte and Wedding as part of the district reform. For years, Moabit was characterised above all by its relatively low property prices compared to the rest of Berlin. Today, some are frustrated that they did not realise this earlier. With the developments on Heidestrasse and in Europacity, the purchase prices have caught up. Although the key figures have now grown to the Berlin median, interest in real estate in Moabit is not waning one bit. In the coming years, Moabit will grow closer and closer to Mitte in terms of quality. 

Property prices Moabit

With almost 45,000 apartments, the housing market in Moabit is small. A heterogeneous price picture reveals itself, which depends more strongly on the microlocation than in other districts. The ownership rate is at a low of 2.5 percent. The offer prices for apartments in Moabit are average 5,210 EUR/m². This corresponds to a development of -1.70 % in one year.  The housing offer amounts to 850 apartments in the last period of 12 months. 

The situation is similar in the new construction segment. In 12 months 20 objects from new building projects were offered. The average list price is 10,560 EUR/m². 12 months ago it was 10,560 EUR/m². Accordingly the price correction in this period was 0.00 %.

Development of property price segments in Berlin Moabit

The chart shows the changes in the price structure of the offered prices in Moabit. How many apartments were offered in the different price segments? The curve shows the development of the average offer price across all apartment types and price segments for existing apartments. Moabit has a stable lower price segment with offer prices between 2,000 and 4,000 EUR/m². The mid-price segment is growing. Some properties in highly sought-after locations are priced at over 6,000 EUR/m².

Bird's eye view: Property Prices in Berlin Moabit

The Bubble Chart shows the supply situation of the last 12 months for the property market in Moabit. The colors indicate the year of construction classes, the size of the bubbles the quantity of offers, the location in the coordinate system the price radius (square meters) and apartment sizes.

Trend

In the larger urban context, Mitte and Moabit merge more and more. Former Wall wastelands are becoming inner-city centres. On the Moabit side, the new neighbourhoods on Lehrter Strasse (over 1,000 rental and freehold flats) and Europacity, north of the main railway station, are unleashing strong centrifugal forces. The redevelopment area around Turmstraße, which has been in place since 2008, and the "Active Centres" development initiative are also providing a boost. The former brewery was converted into the Schultheiss Quartier with the aim of strengthening the small-scale shop structure on Turmstraße. To the north, Moabit borders the Westhafen with large employers. Here the neighbourhood is still characterised by industry. No other inner-city district in Berlin has as much industrial land reserves as Moabit. 

Apartment buildings in Moabit

Although Moabit has all the qualities for the future, for a long time the small district was not on the priority list of buyers. The total housing stock in Moabit of around 45,000 apartments is spread over approx. 2,850 buildings. Not surprisingly, the pressure is high in the popular quarters of Stephankiez, Huttenkiez and Zwinglistrasse. Nearly 1,500 buildings are classic old Berlin buildings up to 1910. The destruction of the industrial Moabit and neighborhoods around production facilities during the war had a severe impact. This explains the large post-war housing stock. Both construction year classes (pre-war, post-war) are valued differently on the market. The real household sizes are highest in the Zillestraße with 2.23 persons per household and lowest in the Hansaviertel with 1.64 persons per household. Overall, the housing deficit is just under 7,800 apartments above overall Moabit. It is to be expected that the combination of low supply, growing demand and central city locations with good connections will hold considerable potential for development. 

Related topics: Milieu protection  Rent cap  Residential building report

The table shows the values for multi-family houses published by the German Real Estate Association (IVD) for Mitte by location and year of construction.

"Baujahresklasse" = year of construction.
"Einfache bis mittlere Lage" = Simple to good area. 
"Gute bis sehr gute Lage" = Good to very good area.

New construction in Moabit

Few districts have experienced such fundamental changes in such a short time as Moabit and Tiergarten. The separation between the two districts is not easy; they merge smoothly. The development of both neighborhoods was shaped by the new Berlin Central Station and the nearby government district, but it started late. This was due to the long urban planning phase on the one hand, and the project planning itself on the other.  

Starting in 2014, there was already an increase in small-scale activities throughout the district. These related more to smaller redensification and redevelopment projects. Starting in 2017, the first construction pits were excavated in the Heidestraße neighborhood. Since then, over 3,000 apartments have been built in the surroundings of Berlin's main train station. The projects are voluminous, typical of the location, and are concentrated along two axes running north of the main station, to the left and right of the Bahnstrasse. The Europacity, by which the new mega city district north of the station is known, consists of a large number of building sites on an area of about 40 hectares. The main player is CA Immo, which has sold various construction sites to other project developers and investors or is developing them in joint ventures.

Since the construction sites are planned and built individually, the sums spent are usually in the range of 40 to just over 100 million euros. Some construction sites have already been completed, others are approaching completion. The Riverside / Wasserstadt subproject at Heidestraße 2 is a mix of apartments, office, retail and gastronomy. The urban mix of uses is a project by Adler Group investors. On the other side of the Bahnstrasse, the Groth Group has built a new urban quarter on 4 hectares opposite the sports stadium with an investment of over 250 million euros. The approximately 700 apartments are a mix of rental and owner-occupied apartments, student housing and occasional commercial space. The 18-story Fritz Tower sets an urban accent. In general, the building height in Moabit is less dogmatically linked to the eaves height by Berlin standards than in other neighborhoods. Still in the discussion and concept phase is another high-rise tower by CA Immo, with the renowned architects of Herzog & de Meuron, and already under construction is an office tower opposite the main train station, with KPMG already confirmed as the future tenant. 

But Moabit is much more than just Europacity, and the development is also spreading to less glamorous neighborhoods. Locations such as Beusselstrasse, formerly a rather dingy transit location in the direction of industrial plants, Tegel Airport and the autobahn, are becoming more and more interesting. The centrality, the proximity to departments of the Technical University and to the urban recreation areas in Tiergarten, make the quarters around Beusselstrasse an interesting, affordable point for tenants and owners. A great deal has already been achieved for the structure in Beusselstrasse. Currently, various small-volume residential buildings are being constructed in the area between Rathenower Strasse, Stromstrasse and Beusselstrasse, including non-profit projects. 

Neighbourhoods in Berlin Moabit

The most popular micro locations within Moabit are architecturally characterized by attractive old buildings and calm residential streets with 30 km/h zones, cafés and restaurants. Among them is the Stephankiez. Here you can find houses from the Wilhelminian period (Gründerzeit) with very attractive stucco facades, most of which have now been restored. About 90 percent of the historical building substance is still present here. The classic Moabit from the time before the district reform and the integration into the district Mitte, consists of the quarters Huttenkiez, Beusselkiez, Westhafen, Emdener Straße, Zwinglistraße, Elberfelder Straße, Stephankiez, Heidestraße, Lübecker Straße, Thomasiusstraße, Zillesiedlung and Lüneburger Straße.

Rental market in Berlin Moabit

The development of rents in Moabit shows a development of 6.40 % over the 12-month period. This revises recent price exaggerations. On the open market, flats are offered on average at prices per square metre of 19.15 EUR/m². In total, 830 properties were offered for rent, not including the offers of the municipal housing associations. The number of cases in Moabit is relatively low due to the small property inventory. Many flats have been rented for decades and must be extensively refurbished before they can be re-rented. Overall, the district is developing into a high-quality location, not only geographically.

SnapshotBird's eye view: Asking rents in Berlin Moabit

The Bubble Chart shows the supply situation of the last 12 months for the property market in Moabit. The colors indicate the year of construction classes, the size of the bubbles the quantity of offers, the location in the coordinate system the price radius (square meters) and apartment sizes. The various price segments and construction years in the Moabit rental market are clearly visible. Rents above 15 EUR/m² are mainly located in newly constructed properties. Small apartments are well represented.

Rent segments

All price segments are present in Moabit. The offers in the segment from 5 - 8 EUR/m² are decreasing. At the same time, the number of housing offers is rising above 14 EUR/m². The medium price segments are largely stable.

Building activity in Moabit

The suburb Moabit is located in the administrative district Berlin Mitte and has a manageable property stock of 46.000 apartments, spread over 13 statistical planning areas LOR (Lebensweltlich orientierte Räume). At an average apartment size of 67.4 m² and a statistical household size of 1.64 persons per household, Moabit is in the lower range. In terms of figures, the household size is 1.83 persons per household.

The construction activity in Moabit increased significantly in 2018. Almost twice as many apartments were built in 2018 as in the previous 7 years combined. When and in which quarters (LOR) construction completions were reported, can be seen from the map. (Source: Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg)

Milieu protection

In Moabit there are currently three milieu protection areas.

Milieu protection map Moabit

Check in our milieu protection map Berlin whether your property is located in a protection area, an investigation area or a suspected area. Our milieu protection map is continuously revised and updated on basis of the resolutions of the district assemblies (BVV). Please also visit our milieu protection area for further information.

General background

"Moabit is the best," the Moabites say about their neighborhood. In fact, the population mix is a cut through the middle of society. The figures show that Moabit is not a single-person district, despite the typically high number of one-person households in Berlin. Taken together, almost 50,000 people live in 2-, 3- and 4-person households. With an average apartment size of 68 m², the apartments are rather in the lower average range in Berlin comparison. The proportion of the population aged between 27 and 45 is high, while the proportion of those over 65 is relatively low. Milieu protected areas were introduced in the Waldstrasse, Birkenstrasse and Thomasiusstrasse areas. The ownership rate in the district is traditionally low. The central location, an environment worth living in, the mostly very good connections and, last but not least, the qualities of the location, which result, among other things, from small-scale old building quarters and neighbourhoods, make long-term investments in Moabit interesting.

Migration

About 32 percent of the population living in Moabit comes from the international area. While migration balances have been negative internally for some years now, immigration from Germany and abroad is on the increase. When looking at the top 10 international migrations, the overall situation is reflected in Moabit. The top 4 immigration countries in the time series from 2013 to 2017 are Poland, Syria, Bulgaria and Italy. Immigration from Syria as a result of the war conflict ended in 2017. Sustainable migration takes place from the classical states of Western Europe and South-Eastern Europe. From the federal territory, the number of migrations follows the proportions of the federal states. In the suburban context, a negative tendency can be observed, with a focus on Potsdam, Havelland and Oberhavel. Internally, Moabit loses residents to other districts between 2013 and 2017.