Housing Prices in Berlin (2023)

In this post we break down just how expensive it is to rent or buy in the German capital. If you want the current average prices by neighbourhood, just scroll down.

Evolution of Prices

Property prices in Berlin are no longer the good deal they once were. Costs per m2 have quadrupled since 2011. The average price to buy was 1500 EUR/m2 in 2011, and it’s now 6500 EUR/m2 in central areas. Berlin had the world’s fastest growing property prices.

People used to move here because the rent was ridiculously cheap, if you were used to places like London or Paris. Get used to the fact that it’s no longer the case! And try not to think: ‘had I only bought ten years ago’. It’s spilled milk, as they say.

Nonetheless: an apartment in Berlin is still less than the average apartment in Paris (which is 10 000 EUR/m2, actually lower than a few years ago). It’s still cheaper here, just not as cheap as it used to be.

But I wouldn’t forget that the rapid increases in price have been extremely difficult for local Berliners and those on fixed incomes.

Cold versus Warm

Apartments are priced ‘warm’ or ‘cold’ (not including utilities). For a 50 sq- meter apartment, one can add about 2,5 EUR/m2 per month, or an extra €125 /month, for utility fees. Note that the situation in Ukraine has made heating costs unpredictable, and so you would do well to estimate more for heat. Remember that the Kaution, or deposit, can be high.

Average Prices:

Average prices across the city per m2 (cold) are now around 14 EUR/m2 to rent in central neighbourhoods (11,50 EUR in the city as a whole).

However, it really depends where you live: new rent offers in Mitte can be between 20 and 30 EUR/m2.

And it depends what people are going to charge you: note than there are many offers that are astronomically high and that might not be legal. Sometimes renters will, after signing the contract, go through a Mieterverein or renters’ association to have the rent reduced to conform with local rent controls. The city has initiatives to stop rental increases (the ‘Mietpreisbremse’, or rental ‘brake’), keeping down prices. This should work and official prices have not moved a lot since 2019. But in practice this control is repeatedly and widely ignored. You will see offers that are higher than what should be permitted. But if you are already in an apartment, your rent is quite protected, unless the owner wishes to move in.

You will notice that phenomenon of Tauschwohnung or Tauschangebote on many of the listings. Tausch means to trade, and many are only looking to swap their apartment for another. Older couples whose children have moved out may want a smaller apartment in a hipper neighbourhood and will swap theirs with the young couple with kids being pressed out of their studio. It can be very frustrating to see so many Tauschwohnungen on the listings if you don’t have something already to barter.

The problem is availability!! A worrying trend is that people are paying commissions just to be able to learn about new apartments, or paying ‘finders’ fees’. Another trick is a very inflated deposit. Also, some try to rent temporarily, in a holiday apartment, which reduces your rights as a renter. Other landlords will tell you that it is impossible to register (Anmenldung) at the apartment, reducing their obligations to you. None of this feels very fair.

The real change since 2019 is rents rising astronomically in the previously cheaper neighbourhoods (Alt-Treptow, Wedding), which used to cost, maybe €9, are quickly rising up to the level where, say, Kreuzberg is (15-20 EUR/m2). Lichtenberg increased 25% last year to about 11 EUR/m2. Note that Moabit prices are quite distorted because of luxury developments near the main station––so try farther north.

Average rents

Cold costs per square metre are about the following in each neighbourhood for unfurnished apartments (2023, on average, taken from what I saw on immowelt.de, wohnungsboerse.net and similar sites). Newly built apartments or furnished apartments can be much more expensive.

I need to add something here: these are the official average prices, which are legally allowed. People are charging much more in many cases. I think one of the frustrating things about the market in Berlin today is that you run across ‘fair prices’ (listed below) and then you run across inflated, opportunistic prices, which maybe aren’t so crazy for people who come here from San Francisco, but are completely unacceptable to Berliners.

-Moabit: €28/ sq meter (€1400 per month for 50 sq meters) (high prices due to new developments near main station––look instead north towards Turmstraße)

-Mitte: approx. €22 / sq meter (€1100 for 50 sq meters per month)

-Prenzlauer Berg: €20 / sq meter (€1000 for 50 sq meters per month)

-Kreuzberg: approx. €16 / sq meter (€800 per month for 50 sq meters)

-Friedrichshain: €16 / sq meter (€800 per month for 50 sq meters)

-Schöneberg: €16/ sq meter (€800 per month for 50 sq meters)

-Alt Treptow (‘lower Kreuzberg’): €15/ sq meter (€750 per month for 50 sq meters)

-Weißensee: €15/ sq meter (€750 per month for 50 sq meters)

-Spandau €15 /sq meter (€750 per month for 50 sq meters)

***€14 / sq meter Central Berlin Average***

-Neukölln: €13/ sq meter (€650 per month for 50 sq meters)

-Wedding: €13/ sq meter (€650 per month for 50 sq meters)

***€11,50 / sq meter Overall Berlin Average***

-Baumschulenweg €11 /sq meter (€550 per month for 50 sq meters)

-Lichtenberg €11 /sq meter (€550 per month for 50 sq meters)

-Karlshorst €11 /sq meter (€550 per month for 50 sq meters)

-Köpenick €11 /sq meter (€550 per month for 50 sq meters)

-Adlershof €11 /sq meter (€550 per month for 50 sq meters)

REMEMBER: To add to the above warm costs, plus about €40 for electricity, plus about €35 phone/internet… approx. €200 + more for 50 m2!

Average Cost to Buy

According to Immobilienscout and similar sites prices are now more than the following. Although, you might add 1500 EUR to each m2 price to get something good:

€7500 / sq meter in Mitte

€6500 / sq meter in Kreuzberg

***€6500 / sq meter Central Berlin Average***

€6000 / sq meter in Charlottenburg

€6000 / sq meter in Prenzlauer Berg

€5500 / sq meter in Schoeneberg

€5500 / sq meter in Friedrichshain

€5300 / square meter in Neukölln. (It’s no longer possible to buy an 80 sq meter apartment in Neukölln for €100 000 unless you go through a forced auction).

***€5200 / sq meter Overall Berlin Average***

€5200 / sq meter in Moabit

€5100 / sq meter in Alt Treptow

€4500 / sq meter in Wedding

€4600 / sq meter in Lichtenberg

€4100 / sq meter in Karlshorst

€4100 / sq meter in Köpenick

€3800 / sq meter in Baumschulenweg

€3800 / sq meter in Adlershof

€3700 / sq meter in Spandau

Note that a source of less expensive apartments is a forced auction, or Zwangsversteigerung.

Here’s the index to the Moving to Berlin Guide, click on what you want to read next!