Despite the gloomy economic environment, the ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and structural changes on the demand side, the Munich office market is stable at a high level. With take-up of 354,000 m², the Bavarian capital recorded a strong first half of 2026. The momentum from the first quarter of 172,000 m² continued in the second quarter with a further 182,000 m². This exceeded the subdued previous year's result by around 38% and the ten-year average by a good 4%. As a result, Munich is one of the few German office markets with rising take-up and is the only location besides Berlin to achieve a result above its long-term average. This is the result of the analysis by BNP Paribas Real Estate.
Although there is brisk demand across almost all size classes, large deals in excess of 10,000 m² in particular make a significant contribution to the strong half-year result. They have an above-average market share of just under 24%. Also noteworthy is the volume of medium-sized deals between 2,000 and 5,000 m², which account for the highest take-up since 2019 (almost 24% proportionately). The most important contracts in the first half of the year include Apple's new owner-occupier building with 29,200 m² in the city of Munich, as well as the largest letting of the current year: the 21,500 m² agreement of E.ON, which was accompanied by BNP Paribas Real Estate.
"The high demand for modern and high-quality space is also reflected in the development of rents. The prime rent rose to the previous year €59.50/m² and thus recorded an increase of around 8%," explains Michael Morgan, Munich branch manager of BNP Paribas Real Estate GmbH.
Munich's leading industries drive take-up
Munich's leading industries are once again presenting themselves with extremely strong rents in the current year. Both the administrations of industrial companies (~36%) and companies in the ICT sector (~27%) were able to significantly increase their take-up of space compared to the previous year. At around 126,000 m² and 96,000 m² respectively, both sectors are well above their long-term averages. This was mainly due to large-volume leasing to companies such as E.ON and Uvision Europe in the industrial sector and Apple and JetBrains in the field of software technologies. The increasing demand from the defence industry segment is also becoming increasingly noticeable and is reflected in current leasing activities.
Although the vacancy volume has hardly changed compared to the same period last year and remains at 1.86 million m², a decline of around 11% was recorded for modern office space. Currently, only around 810,000 m² or 44% of the total vacancy is accounted for by modern office space. The vacancy rate in the entire market area is 8.0%. Due to the persistently high demand pressure in Munich's central locations, supply there remains scarce. This is particularly evident in the city, where the vacancy rate is only 3.5%. Accordingly, new-build first-occupancy areas are only available to a limited extent, especially in city locations, where they add up to only 16,000 m².
Prospects
Despite the challenging economic and geopolitical conditions, the Munich office market was able to record a successful first half of 2026. Due to the increase in take-up and the above-average half-year result, the Bavarian capital clearly stands out from other top German office markets in a nationwide comparison.
After the Munich office market proved to be extremely robust in the first half of the year, several factors also point to a positive development in the second half of the year. On the one hand, the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are weighing on the global economy and are also having a noticeable impact on the German economy. At the same time, the Federal Government's investment programme in the areas of infrastructure and defence is likely to provide additional impetus for demand for space. The first deals from these sectors have already confirmed this development since the beginning of the year. In addition, there are several large-volume requests on the market which, if successfully completed, could provide additional momentum. Against this background, take-up of around 650,000 m² in 2026 seems realistic.
"On the supply side, meanwhile, there are signs of a stabilization of the vacancy rate. In the segment of high-quality premium space, however, the available supply is likely to become increasingly scarce. At the same time, the upward pressure on prime rents remains, so that the €60/m² mark should be exceeded in the short term," predicts Michael Morgan.
