German asking rents climb 1.2% in third quarter, the steepest rise since early 2025
Asking rents for newly listed flats in Germany rose 1.2% in the third quarter of 2026 compared with the previous quarter, excluding inflation. Berlin and Düsseldorf posted the largest gains among the eight biggest cities, while existing flats outpaced new builds.
Steepest quarterly rise since early 2025
Asking rents for newly listed flats in Germany rose 1.2% in the third quarter of 2026 compared with the previous quarter, excluding inflation, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) reported. It is the strongest quarterly increase since early 2025, after a nominal rise of 0.8% in the second quarter. Measured against the same period a year earlier, rents were 3.7% higher. The institute's Greix rent index covers 37 cities and regions, including the 30 most populous, and is composed of property market data from more than 100 sources.
IfW expert Jonas Zdrzalek said the trend was picking up again.
After the annual rate hovered around the three percent mark for two quarters, rental price momentum is now picking up slightly again.
Berlin and Düsseldorf lead the big cities
Among the eight largest cities, Berlin recorded the biggest quarterly increase at 2.1%, followed by Düsseldorf at 2.0%. Munich rose 1.3%, while Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart each rose 1.1%. Cologne stagnated over the quarter. Outside the eight largest cities, Hamm and Mannheim (each 2.3%), Bochum (2.2%) and Nuremberg (1.9%) posted the strongest gains, while Wiesbaden (minus 0.8%), Bonn and Mönchengladbach (each minus 0.4%) saw declines, which the institute described as the exception.
Year on year, Hamburg led the eight largest cities with a 6.7% increase in asking rents, followed by Düsseldorf and Cologne at 5.4% each and Munich at 4.8%. Berlin was only 1.4% above its year-earlier level, and in the first half of 2026 its rents were even lower than a year before. Bochum (6.3%), Augsburg (5.6%) and Mannheim (5%) recorded the strongest annual rises outside the largest cities. Reasons for the regional differences were not given.
- Hamburg
- 6.7 %
- Düsseldorf
- 5.4 %
- Cologne
- 5.4 %
- Munich
- 4.8 %
- Stuttgart
- 1.9 %
- Leipzig
- 1.9 %
- Berlin
- 1.4 %
Existing flats outpace new builds
Existing flats, meaning homes already occupied that tend to be cheaper than new builds, drove the quarterly increase, rising 1.2% against 0.6% for new-build rents. The institute suggests high prices mean only a smaller group of households can afford new builds. Data shows new-build flats in the largest cities stay listed for an average of 14 days longer than existing flats. Handelsblatt's analysis of annual figures found existing flats up 3.7% and new builds up 3.3% over the year.
Price levels and ownership debate
Munich remains the most expensive city in the index, with an average cold rent of 23.70 euros per square metre, followed by Frankfurt am Main at 17.90 euros, Hamburg at 16.50 euros and Leipzig at 10.40 euros. Chemnitz is the cheapest city in the index at 6.30 euros. Handelsblatt calculated that an 80-square-metre flat in Munich would cost 1,896 euros a month at that average.
- Munich
- 23.7 EUR per m²
- Frankfurt am Main
- 17.9 EUR per m²
- Hamburg
- 16.5 EUR per m²
- Leipzig
- 10.4 EUR per m²
- Chemnitz
- 6.3 EUR per m²
Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) wants to move her draft law for better tenant protection forward quickly within the coalition. The Left party, which came first in the Berlin House of Representatives election, wants to socialise large private housing companies. Vonovia and its subsidiary Deutsche Wohnen together hold about 138,000 flats in Berlin and the surrounding area.
Purchase prices and outlook
Data from Value AG listings, processed by Empirica Regio, put the average new-build price nationally at 5,230 euros per square metre, up 1.1% on the second quarter of 2026. Starnberg recorded the largest annual rise among the most expensive districts, at 7.8%, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen has displaced Munich as the most expensive region. Existing-property prices rose 6.6% year on year across Germany. Tobias Just, professor of real estate economics at the University of Regensburg, linked this gap to affordability.
When existing-property prices rise faster than new-build prices, this is often a sign that affordability problems are pushing buyers from the new-build segment into the existing-stock segment.
Reiner Braun, chief executive of Empirica AG, expects existing-property prices to ease in the coming months as rising borrowing costs thin out the pool of buyers.
Existing property prices could soon ease, because buyers are dropping out.
