Berlin office market with highest take-up growth among A-locations

Modern take-up more than doubled, with the five largest deals in the first quarter also contributing their share. This can be seen as a clear indication that demand is strongly focused on the premium space segment, especially in the case of large-scale searches. In terms of the distribution of take-up among the sub-markets, the three office market zones Central (33,500 m²), Urban Area South (23,000 m²) and Europacity (21,000 m²) have stood out so far. Major contracts with at least 7,000 m² were registered in all three zones with WOLT and Doctolib (both in Mitte) as well as Strabag in the southern urban area and 50Hertz and Snowflakes (both Europacity).

"With regard to prime rents, there are more and more premium properties in which the level of €50/m² can be reached or even exceeded, but overall, the €47/m² that has already been achieved several times can still be considered relevant to the market for the time being," explains Jan Dohrwardt, Managing Director and Berlin Branch Manager of BNP Paribas Real Estate GmbH.

When it comes to the industry composition of take-up, two sectors in particular stand out, which have so far been responsible for almost half of the market. In this context, ICT technologies (a good 26%) and the administrations of industrial companies (just under 23%) should be mentioned in this context.

The users of the ICT sector not only accounted for the highest volume, but also for the most contracts, most of which were concluded in the sought-after locations within the S-Bahn ring. In the case of the administrations of industrial companies, on the other hand, the major sales drivers of Strabag (southern urban area; 12,000 m²) and 50Hertz (Europacity; 9,600) were the main drivers.

At the beginning of the year, the vacancy volume rose by 3% to 1.99 million m². At the same time, the vacancy rate also rose again slightly, reaching 9.1% at the end of the first quarter. Modern space currently totals 1.22 million m², which corresponds to a market share of 61%. All in all, therefore, one cannot speak of a shortage of supply even in the modern segment. The challenge, however, is that supply and demand meet in terms of location and equipment in a price-sensitive market.

In the first quarter, the Berlin office market laid the foundation for dynamic letting activity in 2026. Important factors such as the noticeable upturn in the segment from 5,000 m² and the broad distribution of volume across several high-turnover office market zones give reason to be optimistic that the positive development will continue in the course of the year.

Overall, however, it should be noted that demand is concentrated in central locations, modern products and preferably first-occupancy areas, which means that market activities remain focused on a relatively limited segment. This is also reflected in the large-scale applications that have not yet been implemented, in which there are usually only minor compromises in the catalogue of requirements in terms of space and location qualities as well as the rental price conditions.

"Against the background of the market conditions outlined above, it can be assumed that the demand pressure in the premium segment is likely to be reflected in the development of prime rents. It is therefore only a matter of time before the sometimes very high asking rents in the range of the €50/m² mark manifest themselves in further contracts of this magnitude," predicts Jan Dohrwardt.

Link to the market report: https://www.realestate.bnpparibas.de/marktberichte/bueromarkt/berlin-report