Rent cover: investors switch to office buildings

Most tenants in the capital are protected against rent increases for the time being. But there is no rental cover for offices. They are now becoming more interesting for investors. Not just in Berlin.

Berlin (dpa) - The prospect of a rental cover has somewhat calmed the hot Berlin residential property market in the past year.

According to official data, significantly fewer apartment buildings were sold and the prices for them no longer rose as much as in previous years. There are first signs of price stabilization, said the expert committee for property values ​​in Berlin on Monday. "Investors are moving from residential buildings to offices," said Chairman Reiner Rössler. "Residential and office vacancies are barely available," says a preliminary analysis.

In other major cities, too, more and more investors are turning their gaze to office buildings, according to an expert opinion from the Central Association of Central Real Estate Committees. In 2019, almost 40 billion euros were invested nationwide in office properties, a good quarter more than in the previous year.

Because of the persistently low interest rates, office properties are considered a good investment despite falling yields. 43 percent of the investors come from abroad, most of the large deals were in Berlin. When it comes to top office rents, the city almost reaches the Frankfurt and Munich levels.

The number of office workplaces is growing strongly, but too little is being built, the recently presented analysis describes the causes. Accordingly, only 1.3 percent of the office space is free in Berlin, and 1.4 percent in Munich. Real estate economists consider four to five percent healthy. Hamburg, Cologne and Stuttgart are also among them.

The five-year rental cap for apartments in Berlin came into effect on Sunday. According to the expert committee, the months of discussion about this and the lack of building land designations have led to the fact that the property prices have not increased as much as the preliminary analysis for 2019 says. For this, the notarized purchase contracts were evaluated.

Accordingly, 13 percent fewer residential and commercial buildings changed owners, the average purchase prices were nine percent above the previous year's value. Sales of office and commercial buildings also fell with a minus of nine percent, but the average purchase price shot up by 43 percent. The standard land values ​​for commercial building land also rose strongly by around 35 percent.

Meanwhile, the price increase for condominiums remained constant. On average, buyers spent almost 2,800 euros per square meter, ten percent more than in the previous year. One- and two-family houses became 13 percent more expensive.

press release