Continued high demand for top space
After a good start to the year, the Berlin office letting market was able to grow significantly again in the second quarter. From April to June, 238,000 m² were taken up, as much as in the entire first half of 2025. Compared to the second quarter of 2025, there is an increase of 77 percent. The ten-year average was exceeded by a good half. For the first half of 2026, the letting result amounted to 386,100 m² – almost two-thirds more than in the same period last year.
The positive development was driven by a significant increase in medium-sized and large-volume deals. There were twelve deals in the range of 5,000 m² to 10,000 m², compared to only three in the previous year. Among the four deals larger than 10,000 m² were two owner-occupiers, the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Berlin City Cleaning Companies. The IT company Jetbrains provided the largest third-party letting, securing 19,400 m² in the “Hainwerk” at Revaler Strasse 2, on the corner of Warschauer Strasse. A total of 401 leases were concluded – the highest figure in a first half of the year since 2022.
“Demand has picked up not only in the large-volume segment, but also in the small-scale segment. This speaks for broad market activity and a positive development,” comments Anja Schuhmann, Branch Manager JLL Berlin and Leipzig. High-quality space in very good locations continues to be in demand. For less good properties in more decentralised locations, demand is lower and owners are willing to pay significantly higher concessions to rent out their space. “In order to avoid vacancies, rent reductions are also accepted and shorter terms are accepted,” says Schuhmann.
“The demand for top space is unbroken, but there is a lack of supplies. The construction pipeline has been thinned out in this segment and almost nothing is being started speculatively at the moment,” explains Schuhmann. As a result, the prime rent has continued to rise and, at 48 euros/m², is two euros higher than a year ago.
In the first half of the year, most of the lettings were in Berlin-Mitte. With a total of 85,700 m², more than one in five square metres of office space was rented there. This is followed by the sub-markets of Friedrichshain and Schöneberg with market shares of eleven percent and 8.4 percent. Among the sectors with the highest turnover, business-related services (18 percent), public administration (15 percent) and IT (14 percent) are close to each other.
For the year as a whole, Schuhmann expects take-up of 600,000 m².
