Buy a house in Berlin

What houses cost in Berlin

The Berlin valuation committee evaluates every notarised purchase contract in Berlin. For single- and two-family houses, it gives a median purchase price for 2025 of around €3,830 per square metre of value-relevant floor area, about one per cent more than 2024. It measures this area by external dimensions, so it is larger than the living space. Per square metre of living space the price is correspondingly higher.

If you assume 150 square metres of floor area, that gives €574,500 (150 × 3,830). With an agent, additional costs of 11.57% come on top in Berlin, here €66,470: €34,470 real estate transfer tax, around €11,490 for notary and land register fees and €20,510 buyer's commission. For a detached house, the commission is split between buyer and seller under §§ 656c and 656d BGB.

Standard land value and plot share

When you buy a house, you buy the building and the land together. The standard land value shows roughly what the land is worth. The Berlin valuation committee determines it every year as of 1 January for each zone, and you can look it up free of charge in BORIS Berlin. It applies to a typical plot in the zone; the size, shape and buildability of your plot may differ.

For single- and two-family house areas, the valuation committee reduced the standard land values by 5% across Berlin as of 1 January 2026. It cites high construction and financing costs, long waits for loan commitments and the high equity share banks demand. The highest value is €2,700 per square metre, in Grunewald, Dahlem and Hansaviertel.

The second value is an example, not an average. BORIS Berlin shows the value for your zone.

The calculation explains why an older house on a large plot in a good location can cost more than a new one on the edge of town. With many existing houses you are mostly paying for the land. So before a viewing, check the standard land value and subtract the land value from the asking price. What remains is the price the seller is putting on the building. The guide Standard land value in Berlin explains how to read the values.

Where in Berlin houses are

You will find single- and two-family houses in Berlin mainly in the outer districts. In the south-west that is Steglitz-Zehlendorf with Zehlendorf, Dahlem and Lichterfelde, in the north Reinickendorf with Frohnau and Hermsdorf. In the south-east Treptow-Köpenick has plenty of water and woodland, and in the west, in Spandau, Kladow and Gatow lie on the Havel.

Large contiguous residential areas with detached houses are found in Marzahn-Hellersdorf with Mahlsdorf, Kaulsdorf and Biesdorf. In Pankow, houses are mainly in the north of the district, for example in Französisch Buchholz, Rosenthal and Blankenburg.

More important than the district is often how you get into the city. Check the journey time and frequency of the nearest S-Bahn or U-Bahn to your workplace, at the time you will actually travel. The guide Which district suits me? helps with the choice.

Existing property or new build

New houses have become rare in Berlin. In 2025, only 39 single- and two-family houses built 2022 or later were sold, 30% fewer than the year before; their median price level rose by around 6%. So most buyers inevitably choose an existing house.

With an existing house, condition counts. Ask about the age of the roof, windows, heating and electrics, and check the cellar for damp. Ask for the building file or building permit, cadastral map, land register extract and energy performance certificate, and ask the district office about entries in the register of building encumbrances (Baulastenverzeichnis). Major refurbishments belong in your budget before you negotiate. What to check at the viewing itself is shown in the viewing checklist.

If you buy a new house from a developer, you pay in instalments as construction progresses (§ 3 MaBV), and the developer is liable for defects in the structure for five years from acceptance. Details in the guide Buying a new build. Houses with a granny flat are a special case: under the wording of the law, the equal split of the commission applies to detached houses. So clarify the commission for a two-family house before the viewing.

Heating: what has applied since July 2026

The Building Modernisation Act (Gebäudemodernisierungsgesetz) has applied since 29 July 2026 and replaced the Building Energy Act (Gebäudeenergiegesetz). According to the consumer advice centre (Verbraucherzentrale), the earlier obligation to use 65% renewable energy when replacing a heating system has been dropped. Anyone installing a new gas or oil heating system must, however, run it in stages on climate-neutral fuels: from 2029 with at least 10%, and then with rising shares up to 2040.

For you as a buyer this means: ask about the type and year of installation of the heating, and have it checked which rules apply to exactly this system. After a change of owner for single- and two-family houses, smaller retrofitting obligations come on top, such as insulating the top floor ceiling. Whether and by when this affects your house is confirmed by an energy consultant. The seller's heating bill shows only the past.

Leasehold (Erbbaurecht): house without its own plot

Some houses stand on someone else's land. With a leasehold (Erbbaurecht), you buy the right to have a building on a plot (§ 1 Erbbaurechtsgesetz, Heritable Building Rights Act); the plot itself remains with the owner, often a church, a foundation or the state. You pay an annual ground rent (Erbbauzins) for this. The purchase price is lower because the land is not included.

Read the leasehold agreement in full before buying. What matters is the remaining term, the amount of the ground rent and how it is adjusted, the landowner's consent to sale or mortgaging, and the compensation for the building when the right ends (§ 27 Erbbaurechtsgesetz). Also ask your bank early whether, and on what terms, it finances a leasehold.

What the house costs per month

A worked example with the average: a purchase price of €574,500 and additional costs of €66,470 come to €640,970. If you bring €120,000 of equity, a loan of €520,970 remains. With 4.04% interest, the average for more than 10 years' fixed rate in August 2026 according to Deutsche Bundesbank (effective interest rate, used here as an approximation), and 2% repayment, that is around €2,622 a month (€520,970 × 6.04% ÷ 12).

There is no service charge (Hausgeld) or shared maintenance reserve as with an owner-occupied flat. You pay property tax, buildings insurance, water, waste and every repair directly, and you set money aside yourself for the roof or heating. This reserve belongs in your household budget before you talk to the bank. How much purchase price fits your income is shown by How much property can I afford?; the building blocks of financing are explained in Mortgage financing in Berlin.

Berlin or surrounding area

Many house buyers compare Berlin with the surrounding area in Brandenburg. There you pay 6.5% real estate transfer tax instead of 6.0%, but the standard land values are lower in many places. Development plan, utilities connection and journey time to Berlin become more important there. You will find the comparison with a worked example in the guide Buying a house in the Berlin surrounding area, plus Buying property in Potsdam, Buying property in Oranienburg and, if you want to build yourself, Buying a plot in Berlin and Brandenburg.

The tool further up calculates how much house your income supports. You can find all houses from our portfolio in the listings with the house filter.

Sources

• Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing, press release of 31 July 2026 on the real estate market report 2025/2026: single- and two-family houses around €3,830 per m² of value-relevant floor area, Grunewald on average €9,650 per m² of living space, standard land values for individual housing minus 5%
• Berlin valuation committee for land values, preliminary report on the Berlin real estate market 2025: new-build detached houses, peak standard land value €2,700, reasons for the reduction
• BORIS Berlin, standard land values as of 1 January 2026
• Consumer advice centre: what is in the Building Modernisation Act?, as of 21 August 2026
• § 1 and § 27 Erbbaurechtsgesetz, content of the leasehold and compensation when it expires
• § 3 MaBV, instalment payments in a developer purchase; § 634a BGB, limitation of claims for defects in the structure
• § 656c and § 656d BGB, equal split of agents' costs for flats and detached houses
• Berlin Senate Department for Finance, real estate transfer tax rate 6.0%; Brandenburg tax authority, 6.5%
• Deutsche Bundesbank, effective interest rates on residential construction loans, August 2026, more than 10 years' fixed rate 4.04%