Berlin office market to decline slightly in 2009 - NAI Apollo

The office rental market in Berlin will likely experience a decline of about 20% in 2009, independent real estate consultancy group NAI Apollo has predicted. In its latest research report, NAI Apollo said the financial crisis had little decernible impact on the Berlin office market in 2008. The anticipated final rental total for 2008 would come to 530,000 m2, just a 20,000 m² decline on the record results the previous year.

'We have not seen a slowdown in the market yet', says Markus Lehmann, branch manager NAI Apollo Berlin.

Central Berlin once again accounted for a substantial portion of the demand for office space in 2008. Demand was especially strong at Potsdamer Platz and Leipziger Platz, closely followed by the eastern part of the city (Friedrichstrasse, Gendarmen Market, Unter den Linden and Hackescher Market) and the western part of the city (Kurfuerstendamm, Tauentzienstrasse and Seitenstrasse).

Rental prices for prime locations ranged from EUR 18 to EUR 23 per m2, net without any incidental costs. Nominally more than EUR 30 per m² was obtained, an example is the new leasing contract of the Deutsche Bahn at Potsdamer Platz. Rental prices in the suburbs generally ranged between EUR 12 and EUR 16 per m2, net without any incidental costs. These figures put prime locations well above the average for the entire city, which was approximately EUR 11.30 per m2, NAI Apollo said.