A comparison of rents in major German cities with those in Vienna is interesting because the Austrian capital has pursued a remarkable housing policy since the 1920s, which is still exemplary today.
The impirica institute has compared rental price trends in Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna and Munich. The results allow conclusions to be drawn about what can be improved in German housing policy. Between 2010 and 2022, the population in all major cities grew strongly - by between 11% in Hamburg and 15% in Berlin. At the same time, rents have risen sharply.
In Hamburg, new contract rents rose by EUR 3.60 per square meter or 40 percent, in Vienna by EUR 3.80 or 46 percent and in Berlin by EUR 4.70 or 65 percent. Rents rose the most in Munich at EUR 6.40 per square meter. The fact that rents in Munich have not also risen the most in relative terms, with an increase of 57 percent, is due to the already high starting point. All major cities are now suffering from high rents. In 2022, the average new contract rent across all market segments was EUR 11.90 per square meter in Berlin, EUR 12.04 in Vienna and EUR 12.60 in Hamburg. Only Munich is significantly higher at EUR 17.90 per square meter.
The empirica institute points out that an international comparison of rent levels is made more difficult by the different definitions of costs and rent. New contract data that covers all market segments is best suited for comparing the performance of rental housing markets.
According to empirica, two key findings can be derived from the data: The very different housing policies in the cities of Vienna, Hamburg and Berlin, some of which have been consistently pursued for decades, do not lead to different results. The only exception is Munich: The housing market is significantly less efficient than in the other cities. In addition, efficiency has deteriorated further over the last twelve years. In 2010, new contract rents in Munich were already around 41% higher than the average for other major cities; by 2022, the gap had widened further to 47%.
Photo: © Manfred Reinert, Pixabay
