Berlin, 1 October 2020 – With 18,515 flats sold in 2019, Berlin remains the star performer on the German housing market. Munich (10,373) and Hamburg (6,341) in ranks two and three, respectively, clearly lag far behind. The figures are quoted in this year’s ACCENTRO Homeownership Report, which is based on the analysis of data provided by the property valuation committees of Germany’s 82 largest cities. However, the report also shows that the sales figures in the German capital have declined for the fourth time in as many years (-1.96 percent compared to 2018). The only other “Big 7” city with a yet steeper drop in condominium sales than Berlin was Hamburg (-2.25 percent). Then again, the ten-year comparison shows that the number of flats sold increased by a significant 29.67 percent.  

More New-Build Unit Sales than Hamburg and Munich combined

With a total of 4,608 sales, Berlin sold 189 more newly-built flats than Hamburg and Munich combined. And while the number of new-build flats sold in 2018 marked a 21.24-percent decline, it rebounded in 2019, showing a modest increase (+2.45 percent). Nationwide, new-build condominium sales totalled 27,164 units, which is 4.4 percent more than in 2018. “Principally speaking, it is important for major cities to maintain a high level of new-build construction. The report findings reveal that new-build construction in Berlin has still not regained the level of 2017,” said Lars Schriewer, CEO of ACCENTRO Real Estate AG, as he put the analysis in context. “Remarkable to note, however, is that the homeownership rate in the German capital still lags far behind the rates of other German Länder even though more flats were sold in Berlin than anywhere else,” Schriewer added.  

One Fifth of the Total Revenues Generated in Berlin

At 6.25 billion euros in sales, the German capital maintained its lead among the cities with the highest sales revenues. That said, runner-up Munich (5.55 billion euros) managed to narrow the gap separating it from Berlin down to half. In 2018, it had still trailed Berlin by 1.31 billion euros. Revenues in Berlin increased by 2.92 percent since 2018, and by an actual 242.15 percent in the ten-year comparison. “The relatively high prices point to high hopes vested in the city’s future in its role as the German capital,” said Prof. Dr. Michael Voigtländer, Head of the Financial Markets and Real Estate Markets Competence Unit at the IW Institute. “Another factor is the economic boom that the capital has experienced over the past years,” Voigtländer added.  

About the ACCENTRO Homeownership Report

This edition marks the thirteenth time that ACCENTRO Real Estate AG published its Homeownership Report. For the first time, the homeownership report was compiled in collaboration with the IW Economic Institute this year. The analysis is based on residential property sales transacted in all of Germany’s 82 major cities during the reporting year of 2019. A significant distinction that sets the report apart from similar publications, most of which rely on expert appraisals or on analyses of supply-side data, is that it draws on the data of the cities’ property valuation committees. The report consists of two different parts. While the first part compares the various housing markets, using a variety of criteria, the second part breaks down the market data in detail for each of the 82 cities studied. Detailed findings of the ACCENTRO Homeownership Report on Germany’s ten most populous cities and the trends of the past twelve years are also available online in the ACCENTRO database, and can be retrieved in the form of selective drilldowns: Home Ownership Report  

About ACCENTRO Real Estate AG

ACCENTRO Real Estate AG is a residential property investor and Germany’s market leader in housing privatisations. Its real estate portfolio consisted of around 5,200 units as of 31 December 2020. In addition to Berlin, regional focal points include East German cities and conurbations, as well as the Rhine-Ruhr metro region and Bavaria. The business activity of ACCENTRO comprises four core divisions. These are the tenant-sensitive retailing of condominiums to owner-occupiers and private buy-to-let investors, the sale of real estate portfolios to institutional investors, the set-up and management of a proprietary real estate portfolio, and third-party condominium marketing for property asset holders, investors and developers. The shares of ACCENTRO Real Estate AG are listed on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (German securities code number WKN: A0KFKB, ISIN: DE000A0KFKB3). investors.accentro.de