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Berlin’s Growing Neighborhoods
February 21st 2019
By Mansion Global
When the Berlin Wall fell almost 30 years ago, Berlin was a carved up, poor and war-scarred city. But the historic moment, which signaled the end of Communism in Europe, ushered in a new era of optimism and, despite the upheaval and economic hardship the city endured in the years following, Berlin regained its confidence.
Berlin is now one of the world’s most vibrant cities, with rising levels of employment and population growth. Through large-scale government and homegrown arts-led regeneration, it has rebuilt itself and transformed into a start-up business magnet.
And yet, despite high demand for homes, particularly from foreign buyers, the makeup of the market has not changed dramatically. Berlin has the lowest rate of home ownership of all Federal States in Germany, at 15%, according to a report by Knight Frank’s 2018/19 Condominium Report.
With one property to every 1.69 requests, according to the same Knight Frank report, the level of existing stock is low. And the pipeline of new homes is slow: there are 4.2 completions per 1,000 inhabitants. As a result, sales transactions are decreasing.
As the cost of prime neighborhoods such as Mitte, Charlottenburg and Prenzlauer Berg have become more unaffordable, the focus has switched to neighboring areas.
Here we take an in-depth look at three upwardly mobile, amenity-packed areas which has seen high levels of demand, an increase in new developments and rising property prices.
Friedrichshain
Lying on the eastern edge of Mitte, this former East Berlin neighborhood has been a bonafide hipster haven for years: there are trendy dining spots, techno clubs and Raw Gelande, a former railway repair station which includes a swimming pool, open-air cinema and bars.
New luxury developments have in the past been focused along its riverside—the River Spree runs along its southern edge and features the longest section of wall, known as the East Side Gallery. Many of these homes have sold as upmarket crash pads to foreign buyers. Some properties have sold for between €9,000 (US$10,269) per square meter and €12,000 per square meter.
Due for completion this year, Wave Waterside Living is a new development by Berlin Bauwerk Capital of 161 homes on Stralauer Allee by the Spree, where prices range between €429,000 and €4.49 million. Boutique developments, or small high-end schemes, are popular, too. Three one- and two-bedroom rooftop loft-style apartments with roof garden are on offer at 42 Voigtstrasse. Developed by Bewocon, the properties cost €539,900, €789,900 and €1,049,900.
The liveliest area is around Boxhagener Platz, or Boxi as the locals call it, a park and garden which hosts weekend food and flea markets. The streets surrounding it are filled with established bars, restaurants and coffee shops. People like the energy and lifestyle it offers.
The average price is €5,000 per square meter.
Demand for this area is high already, but it is more than affordable than Mitte and Charlottenburg, where it is not easy to find an apartment for sale, said Bettina Faryar-Grünewald in Engel & Volkers Berlin-Mitte.
Kreuzberg
This neighborhood, whose northern section features the Jewish Museum and Checkpoint Charlie and borders Mitte, has long been hyped as one of Berlin’s coolest neighborhoods.
Known for being a hub for bohemian living and counterculture—David Bowie spent evenings at club SO36 in Kreuzberg in the 1970s—artists started moving into the area during the 1990s, and its popularity grew from there.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Kreuzberg was suddenly almost in the middle of Berlin and much closer to Mitte. The district has become one of the most popular and expensive spots in Berlin. Due to its popularity and lack of free space, housing developers are increasingly building upwards to create new living areas.
The riverside part of Kreuzberg was one of the earliest areas to be developed, and it is lined with modern developments featuring high-end homes. Wohnpanorama is a new development on Dennewitzstraße, a street located moments from the Spree, offers 92 condos with two to five rooms and eight three-story townhouses. Price range from €329,000 to €1.57 million via Knight Frank.
Buying hotspots include Bergmannstraße, a street that features Marheineke Markthalle, a popular food market, and many attractive boutiques. Another point of focus is Maybachufer, a street which runs along the Landwehr Canal and features cafes and bars that are popular with artists.
The average cost of a square meter in Kreuzberg is €5,000. A 50 square meter one-bedroom home, for example, would cost €250,000. High-end homes, meanwhile, costs between €7,000 per square meter and €7,500 per square meter.
Moabit
This former West Berlin neighborhood—which sits to the west of Mitte— was once a working-class residential area and a hub for communist activists before World War II.
With few cultural landmarks and many gritty ex-industrial buildings and structures, this off-the-beaten-track spot attracts few tourists, and while it is not classically beautiful, it has, arguably, more of an authentic feel compared with other central neighborhoods.
Moabit is a central, yet peaceful and quiet spot, with good transport links: it is on the Berlin S-Bahn, and trains to Potsdamer Platz, a public square in the center of Berlin, takes 30 minutes.
New art galleries and vegan eateries such as Geh Veg and Valladares, and Crunch Kantine, a vegetarian restaurant, now sit alongside traditional stores selling international foods and the historic Arminiushalle market hall, which give the neighborhood local flavor and charm.
The southern edge of the area is popular, as it abuts the upscale area of Charlottenburg and the Bellevue Schloss, the neoclassical home of the German president, and the Tiergarten, Berlin’s most popular park. Alt-Moabit, a road lining the Spree, and the Turmstraße, which is close to the Arminiusmarkthalle, are the area’s home buying hotspots.
More people are discovering the area. It has Victorian neoclassical apartment blocks, and it sits in a convenient spot in the western part of the city, yet it is more affordable than Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg.
Prices for apartments range from between €4,265 per square meter and €7,000 per square meter, Ms. Faryar-Grünewald said. The average one-bedroom home costs between €4,000 per square meter and €4,500 per square meter.