The average asking price for a second-hand apartment in Berlin rose by 1% in the first quarter of 2026, to €5,512 per square metre, new data by the empirica institute and LBS NordWest has revealed.
According to the institute, apartment prices in Germany‘s capital are ‘stagnating’ at a high level, with Berlin‘s central districts commanding the highest average prices.
In Mitte, for example, average asking prices reached €6,538 per square metre, up 2% compared with the same period last year. According to the report, a typical second-hand apartment in the district costs around €415,000, while high-end properties can exceed €730,000.
Property transfer tax
“Even in the capital, home ownership must remain a realistic prospect for young people, especially since owning property is a key component of private retirement planning,” commented Frank Demmer, CEO of LBS NordWest. “Given the still high prices, property transfer tax should therefore be waived for owner-occupiers to facilitate acquisition.”
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg also recorded average asking prices above €6,000 per square metre, at €6,242 and €6,144 respectively, the data showed. Prices in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf declined slightly by 1% year-on-year, while Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg remained broadly stable.
In both districts, a typical second-hand apartment requires between 8.0 and 8.7 times the annual household income, the data showed.
Mid-marked prices were evident across districts including Pankow, Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Steglitz-Zehlendorf and Neukölln, where prices ranged from approximately €5,800 to €5,000 per square metre.
Most affordable districts
The city’s most affordable districts remained Spandau and Marzahn-Hellersdorf, where average asking prices stood at €3,945 and €4,047 per square metre, respectively. The asking price in Spandau corresponds to 4.7 times the average annual household income, while in Marzahn-Hellersdorf it corresponds to 6.0 times.
However, both districts recorded some of the strongest annual increases, with prices rising 8% in Spandau and 4% in Neukölln and Marzahn-Hellersdorf.
Only two districts recorded year-on-year declines in apartment prices: Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Lichtenberg, where prices fell by 1% and 3% respectively. Read more here.
