Prices have increased throughout Germany, but in the capital the situation is clearly the worst.
Berlin is not the most expensive city to live in Germany and indeed, it was once known as a European capital with affordable rents in many areas of the city (even those well-served and with a good level of services). This statement remains true only for those fortunate enough to have a rent that is locked in: for all other residents without home ownership, the city is becoming economically unlivable. In the last ten years the average price per square meter for a home in Berlin has increased significantly: for the same size, for the same house today you have to pay 69 percent more each month than what was necessary in 2015. The figure, already impressive in itself, becomes even more so when compared to the national average: average rents in Germany have increased “only” by 43 percent since 2015. The only city where the increase in rental costs keeps pace with that of Berlin is Leipzig, which shows a +67 percent.
This reassuring data is reported by The Berliner, which emphasizes how this data emerged from the explicit request of Caren Lay, a political figure from the German left, a member of Die Linke, who has long been asking the federal government to make these findings public. From the recently released data, it emerges that the average rent per square meter in the city has risen from just over 9 euros to over 15 euros. So much so that the gap between rents with locked prices and market prices is over 7 euros: the widest recorded in the entire nation, there are no other cities with comparable figures.
The reasons for this significant increase in rents are well known. According to the annual report by Guthmann, related to 2025, the explosion of prices in Berlin is due to a combination of factors, starting with the chronic lack of apartments available on the market to meet a rapidly and continuously growing demand. Construction in the city is stagnant, especially for affordable housing, so there are no new homes at accessible prices, and those that exist remain rented for a very long time, as practically no one can afford the amount necessary to buy. To this already complex picture has been added the gradual weakening of regulations governing rental prices and the real estate market, a weakening that has allowed property owners to continuously raise rents, even by significant amounts, making Berlin a European capital where it is now truly difficult to consider living.
