In no other German metropolis prices for housing ownership are rising as strongly as they do in Berlin. This is shown by a current property price index of the association of German bond banks (vdp). Self-used housing in the German capital increased in price in 2017 by around 15.5 percent compared to the previous year (source: vdpresearch.de). That’s the highest growth since the last 15 years, older data is not available. The increase in 2016 was at 12 percent, while it was at 11.5 percent in 2015.

Therefore Berlin is standing out in the Top seven cities. In those cities home ownership increased in price in 2017 by around 11.5 percent. The biggest jump in prices right after Berlin could be seen in Frankfurt am Main with 11.5 percent and the least increase of purchasing prices was measured in Düsseldorf with 8 percent.

Nationwide prices for housing ownership steadily increased, while they didn’t increase as strong as in Berlin and the other metropolises. In 2017, the national average purchasing prices for home ownership increased by 5.8 percent (source: pfandbrief.de). This is a decreased value compared to the previous year (6 percent), but it’s still the second highest in the last 15 years.

Condos are in demand

According to the property price index condos are in high demand. The increase of prices for condos in 2017 was nationwide at 6.9 percent (2016: 6.5 percent), one- or two-family houses increased by only 5.5 percent (2016: 5.8 percent). The same applies for metropolises, where condo prices increased by around 12.1 percent and one- or two-family houses by around 10.8 percent. Nowhere prices for condos in 2017 increased that strong as they did in Berlin with a plus of 17 percent (2016: 12.5 percent). That value is the strongest increase of all metropolises in the last 15 years.

The price trend for apartment blocks shows, that value development for residential properties in Germany and especially in metropolises is still highly favorable. The capital value of apartment blocks in 2017 increased nationwide by 7.9 percent (2016: 7.1 percent). Prices in the top-7-cities increased by 14.2 percent (2016: 12.3 percent). Even in this segment Berlin outdoes other metropolises regarding value development. Capital value for apartment blocks in the German capital increased by 18.1 percent in 2017 compared to 16.3 percent in the previous year.