The Private Residential Rent – or Apartment Rent Index for Berlin has just been released. Any surprises? Not so much: slowly but surely Berlin’s apartment rents are rising. But how much? And are Berlin apartments still affordable? That is actually not so easy to answer.

Ok – let’s face it: to rent an apartment in Berlin can still be quite affordable – especially if you compare average rents paid in Berlin to average rents paid in other large German cities like Hamburg, Frankfurt or Munich. And compared to other European capitals the average apartment rents in Berlin may appear even more moderate.

It seems to be difficult to find reliable numbers that would tell more about the actual situation. What every Berliner knows: apartment rents are  rising – and in some neighborhoods rents are actually rising wildly. The rent index however only covers the average rent – it doesn’t cover the actual rise which appears when tenants change. Rumors are, that in some previous cheaper or more affordable areas of Berlin like Neukölln and Wedding some apartment rents have risen by 50% to 100% within a year. The increase of the average rent documented by the rent index however appears to be actually still quite modest – the average numbers don’t really tell how much about the actual trends, the actual developments.

And what the Berlin Rent Index 2015 also does not tell is how difficult it actually can be to first find an affordable apartment and then also be the one who can actually sign the contract and move in. But maybe that’s a different story anyways. However – if you would like to have an insight into the ‘official’ interpretation, then you may check either of the following pages:

Mietspiegelabfrage / Interactive Apartment Rent Index Tool

You ‘just’ need to enter your address, the year the building was built and the size of your apartment and the tool will spit out the average apartment rent paid for a comparable apartment:
www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/wohnen/mietspiegel/index.shtml

Wohnlagenkarte / Berlin Rent Index Map

a map showing Berlin residential areas colored in three categories: areas with an average rent above Berlin’s average are colored in red, average areas in orange – and below average in yellow:
www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/wohnen/mietspiegel/de/wohnlagenkarte.shtml

Conclusion

As far as I can see Berlin apartment rents vary between approximately €4,- and €8,- per square meter, depending on the area you are looking for an apartment and the condition of the apartment / building. So for an average two room apartment in Kreuzberg or Prenzlauer Berg you would probably have to pay anything between €400 and €800 – heating and electricity not included. In Reinickendorf or Lichtenberg however you would probably only have to pay between €300 and €600 per month for an apartment of the same size. Or in other words: a coal heated one room apartment in Köpenick is still a lot cheaper than a roof top loft with a view in Mitte. News? You decide.

See also:
`–> Berlin Accommodation
`–> Rental Apartments