Mittwoch, 27. Dezember 2006

Berlin realty finally waking up

Foreigners enter the market after 8 years of price declines

By Patrick Donahue Bloomberg News
Wednesday, December 27, 2006

BERLIN: Yngve Fredheim, a 60-year- old civil engineer from Norway, bought an apartment in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin last year for €300,000, or about 60 percent less than a comparable apartment back home in Oslo.

He is among a wave of foreign buyers lured by some of the lowest property prices in Europe and signs of an economic revival in Germany. Real estate pages of British newspapers, including The Times and The Telegraph, have labeled Berlin a good market for buying a second home.

"It's really cheap, and it's one of the best locations in Berlin," Fredheim said of his four-room residence, which measures 112 square meters, or 1,200 square feet, and has been renovated for the first time since the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II. "It's a metropolis. It has something similar to Paris and London, so if the Germans get the economy going, it'll be a good investment."

Berlin, a city of 3.4 million people, is an anomaly among European capitals: It has the country's biggest population but is not the financial or industrial center. After hopes of becoming the hub for European trade and politics after the collapse of the Berlin Wall 17 years ago were not realized, residential real estate prices dropped every year from 1996 to 2004. Real estate values in London climbed 80 percent during that time.

The tide may be turning. A total of €6.33 billion, or $8.36 billion, was spent on Berlin properties in the first nine months of 2006, up from €2.95 billion a year earlier, according to the local government's Web site. By the end of the year, the figure may reach a record of more than €10.8 billion, the newspaper Tagesspiegel reported last week, citing a member of the government's survey board.

One destination for homebuyers is the eastern neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg -- prized for its leafy, cobbled streets, trendy cafés and proximity to the city center. Apartments cost about €2,500 to €3,000 a square meter, 20 percent to 25 percent of London prices, said Wolf-Dieter Lahmann, director of the real estate agency BIST Immobilien.

Other districts where foreigners are shopping include Köpenick, one of the most prosperous in the eastern part of the city, and the western areas of Wilmersdorf, Zehlendorf and Steglitz.
"Last year it really took off," said Lahmann, whose agency concentrates on Prenzlauer Berg. About 25 percent of its sales are to non-Germans --mostly Americans, Britons, Italians, Irish, Scandinavians and Greeks.

Many of the investors have jobs that bring them to Berlin regularly and want to avoid staying in hotels, Lahmann said. Others buy apartments for children who are studying at Berlin universities. Still others are moving to the German capital.

Quick profits may not be on the horizon, though. Lahmann said that investing in Berlin real estate required a 10- to 20-year commitment.

Tobias Just of Deutsche Bank said: "In the long term, Berlin is very positive because it has a good infrastructure. It's not as much so in the midterm. In the short term, you'd have to think twice about it."

For foreign investors who rent out their apartments, the current prices may bring higher returns.

Berlin landlords are able to charge annual rents that yield 6.5 percent to 7 percent of the purchase price, said Frank Schollenberger of Jones Lang LaSalle, a realty agency based in Chicago. Yields in London and Dublin are half that, he said.

"You couldn't even imagine such a thing in London," Schollenberger said.

The German economy is also helping, as rising consumer confidence drives demand for housing. Gross domestic product is expected to increase 2.3 percent this year, the strongest result since 2000. Unemployment fell in November to the lowest level in four years, while business confidence surged to match a 15-year high.

Private equity funds are interested in Berlin real estate. Cerberus Capital Management and Goldman Sachs's Whitehall investment fund bought 65,700 units of public housing in the city in 2004, mostly in lower-rent districts, for €2.1 billion, an early bet on climbing prices.
Such purchases have started to affect prices, according to David Milleker of Allianz Dresdner Economic Research. He said the trend would continue nationwide.

Because of the stagnant prices, he noted, rental yields are up 2 percent since 1995. In Britain, yields are 40 percent of their 1995 level, Milleker said.

"The appearance of big buyers from abroad can thus certainly be seen as tending to have a positive impact on price developments," Milleker wrote in a report.

Montag, 18. Dezember 2006

Große Umsätze in Berlin

Ausländische Anleger drängen auf den Markt Das lässt etablierte Projektentwickler umsteuern

Matthias Oloew 18.12.2006 0:00 Uhr

Das Interesse an Immobilien und Grundstücken in Berlin zieht weiter an. Am Sonntag meldete der börsennotierte Frankfurter Immobilieninvestor DIC Asset, dass er mit Hilfe der US-Bank Morgan Stanley für 147 Millionen Euro Immobilien der Landesbank übernommen hat. Zu dem Paket gehören 51 Objekte, vor allem Büros, Dienstleistungs- und Einkaufsgebäude in Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf und Schöneberg (siehe Kasten). Die Häuser seien zu 82 Prozent vermietet, sagte ein Sprecher der DIC Asset, die sich eine Anfangsrendite von sieben Prozent verspricht.Von der Nachfrage profitiert auch der größte Immobilienvermarkter Berlins, der senatseigene Liegenschaftsfonds. „Wir werden bis zum Jahresende rund 40 Millionen Euro mehr als geplant an die Landeskasse abführen können“, kündigte Geschäftsführer Holger Lippmann gegenüber dem Tagesspiegel an. Geplant sei ein Erlös von 130 Millionen Euro, es würden aber mehr als 170 Millionen erreicht. Nur drei Mal konnte der Fonds in seiner Geschichte mehr Umsatz erzielen.Einige der Verkäufe haben ein zweistelliges Millionenergebnis für den Fonds gebracht, so Lippmann. Dazu gehöre der Verkauf der Friedrichstraße 100 zwischen Admiralspalast und Hochbahnviadukt, das Grundstück der „Loretta“-Gastronomie an der Lietzenburger Straße, aber vor allem der Verkauf des knapp zehn Hektar großen Areals zum Bau der neuen Zentrale des Bundesnachrichtendienstes. Bund und Berlin sagen über den Kaufpreis nichts; es ist aber von etwa 47 Millionen Euro die Rede.„Es ist sehr viel Kapital aus dem Ausland auf dem Markt“, sagt Lippmann und erklärt sich so auch die große Nachfrage nach Wohnimmobilien. Die landeseigenen Grundstücke am Humboldthafen, in direkter Nähe des Hauptbahnhofs, seien zwar noch gar nicht im Angebot, „wir haben aber schon jetzt gut ein Dutzend Interessenten, die sich für die Grundstücke interessieren, auf denen Wohngebäude errichtet werden sollen.“Die Nachfrage nach Wohngebäuden lässt auch Immobilienentwickler umsteuern, die sich bisher nicht damit beschäftigt haben. Beispiel: Die bundeseigene Vivico, die vor allem ehemalige Liegenschaften der Deutschen Bahn vermarktet. „Wir stehen vor einem Strukturwechsel“, sagt Unternehmenssprecher Wilhelm Brandt.

quelle: http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/;art270,2123277

Dienstag, 5. Dezember 2006

Comprar casa nella capitale dell'Est Europa - BERLINO

A Berlino un mercato immobiliare in fermento ma ancora accessible

di Marta Fontolan, da Berlino, novembre 2006
Dopo anni di oscurità, brancolando nel buio in una situazione politica poco chiara, i prezzi delle proprietà berlinesi sono tuttora ancora bassissimi in confronto alle altre metropoli europee. Mentre gli affitti aumentano sempre più velocemente, i prezzi per le proprietà affondano.
Berlino oggi è ancora il luogo più interessante e vantaggioso d’Europa dove comperare casa. Vi sono tuttavia vantaggi e svantaggi nel possedere una casa o un appartamento. Recentemente grandi quantità di capitale provenienti da tutto il mondo vengono versate proprio a Berlino, soprattutto nel settore immobiliare. Dottori di Dublino, avvocati di Londra, artisti da Parigi e investitori da New York. Un inseguimento generale all’acquisto di proprietà nella location più vantaggiosa al centro dell’Europa.
Sì, finalmente il hype berlinese che imperversa da qualche anno su tutti i mezzi di comunicazione, ha raggiunto anche il mercato immobiliare. Dopo l’esplosione e il fallimento del mercato virtuale di internet e soprattutto dopo gli attacchi terroristici dell’11 settembre, tutto il mondo sta versando denaro liquido nell’investimento apparentemente più sicuro: il mattone. Da qualche anno i prezzi degli affitti e delle case sono svettatati, rendendo la vita sempre più difficile a un largo strato di persone. Chi ha la possibilità preferisce investire i suoi soldi in un mutuo, piuttosto che gettarli via ogni mese.
Tuttavia, alla ricerca disperata dell’occasione più vantaggiosa, tra valore e profitto, la capitale di questo movimento sembra essere proprio la Germania. Dall’inizio del nuovo millennio, qui la vita sembra essere più facile che altrove, da un punto di vista economico: buoni impieghi e possibilità di lavoro, poca o nessuna crescita del costo degli immobili. Un decennio fa, furono soprattutto gli investitori irlandesi e britannici, con particolare appetito per le proprietà, a favorire i mercati emergenti dell’Europa centro orientale, come Ucraina, Romania a Bulgaria. Ora la situazione è cambiata. A partire da qualche anno, grandi gruppi d’investitori britannici e americani hanno iniziato ad assicurarsi centinaia, migliaia di appartamenti, strappati alle municipalità tedesche.
Secondo il Forum Mondiale dell’Economia, la Germania è ora considerata la quinta economia più competitiva nel mondo. Assumendo che in Germania la qualità della vita è nettamente migliorata negli ultimi anni, e che Berlino sembra essere diventata la nuova metropoli europea dell’arte, la moda e il design, gli appartamenti berlinesi, in determinato quartieri considerati particolarmente trendy dagli stranieri, hanno aumentano il loro valore sul mercato del 20%. Per la prima volta dopo la seconda guerra mondiale.
L’origine degli affitti un tempo così economici è da ricercare nella politica socialista della ex-DDR, in cui l’affitto, una volta ottenuto l’appartamento, risultava qualcosa di formale, come una tassa da pagare allo Stato. Caduto il Muro, con la città e il governo in subbuglio, per lungo tempo gli affitti degli appartamenti nella parte orientale di Berlino, un tempo socialista, rimasero irrisori, favorendo anche l’arrivo di artisti internazionali. Molti degli edifici tuttora non si trovano in un buono stato e necessitano di lavori, ma questa decadenza, questo aspetto rovinato, sgarruppato, favorisce sicuramente lo charme, l’atmosfera e il sentimento di ostalgie di questa città.
Camminando per Berlino si respira la storia. Camminare tra le rovine, tra palazzi decadenti che portano ancora sulle loro facciate le ferite di guerre, le sparatorie e i bombardamenti, influenza l’immaginazione. Berlino è nel nostro immaginario poetico la città sfigurata dalla guerra e dalla divisione interna di una nazione. Qui la disoccupazione rimane tristemente ancora alta, con cifre che toccano il 17.5%, conferendo a Berlino la potenza economica pari a quella di una piccola città della Germania occidentale, come Dortmund. Ma alcuni fattori positivi contribuiscono alla crescita di Berlino anche a livello economico: la creazione di un nuovo aeroporto internazionale da inaugurare nei prossimi decenni, l’interesse e l’attenzione dei media internazionali per una Berlino eletta centro di cultura e della vita notturna. La qualità della vita a Berlino è molto alta rispetto alle altre capitali europee, spesso ammalate di stress e violenza. E' ancora un’isola felice in Germania.
A tutto ciò bisogna aggiungete dei prezzi incredibilmente competitivi: gli appartamenti negli Altbau, le vecchie costruzioni in buono stato (termine che qualifica gli edifici costruiti prima della seconda guerra mondiale), e in quartieri gradevoli e attraenti costano circa 2,200 euro/m2. A Barcellona i prezzi si aggirano sui 5,000 euro/m2. A Dublino 4,500 euro/m2. Ciò conferma che la situazione di Berlino è realmente un’eccezione, dovuto alla sua storia veramente eccezionale. Inoltre, sembra che le costruzioni tedesche siano di una qualità e di uno standard superiori a quelle spagnole o inglesi. Negli Altbau berlinesi le camere sono più spaziose e i soffitti più alti, ricordano le case comunali sovietiche con una grande cucina, un corridoio e svariate stanze, entro le quali abitavano numerose famiglie.
La domanda cruciale oggi è questa: dove sta andando il mercato? Tutti sembrano essere d’accordo sull’idea che i prezzi continueranno a salire anche nei prossimi anni. Helena Gura, un’agente immobiliare attiva nel quartiere giovane e trendy di Prenzlauer Berg, è sicura che la domanda continuerà ad aumentare. E' convinta che grazie alla ripresa economica della Germania il capitale, e il denaro liquido, continueranno a fluire nel settore immobiliare sia nel 2007 che nel 2008. Un aumento cospicuo dei prezzi è previsto per l’inizio del 2009.
Anche due anni fa era previsto un aumento della domanda e un conseguente aumento del valore degli appartamenti e del loro prezzo. C’è stato, ma è stato così minimo, che quasi neanche si è notato. Se i tassi d’interesse per i prestiti saliranno sopra il 5.5% sarà molto probabile una diminuzione della richiesta. Un'amica francese, Cécile, che aspetto un bambino e che ormai con il suo compagno tedesco si è stabilita a Berlino, vorrebbe comperare una casa. Ma mi ha confessato che i tassi d’interesse per un mutuo sono già così alti che alla fine non le converrebbe investire nell’acquisto di un immobile.
Helena Gura ribatte che i prezzi sono stabilmente aumentati per oltre un anno e mezzo. E che se si osservano i cicli, le varie fasi subite dalle proprietà a partire dal 1950 si nota che i cicli dei prezzi rimangono stabili per circa 5-6 anni. Secondo gli oscuri, ma ragionati calcoli di Frau Gura, un costante aumento dei prezzi durerà ancora tre o quattro anni. Gli architetti sono tutti concordi nell’affermare che nell’acquisto di una proprietà nell’ex capitale della DDR il fattore più importante, e decisivo, è proprio la location. Ci sono molte proprietà libere sul mercato, ma la maggior parte si trovano in luoghi sbagliati. Ci sono aree molto richieste, soprattutto dagli stranieri, come Prenzlauer Berg, Mitte, Kreuzberg e Friedrichshain, nelle quali i prezzi continuano ad aumentare, soprattutto per quanto riguarda gli affitti.
Prenzlauer Berg, Berlino Est, sembra essere la zona più desiderata, più amata e richiesta. Ciò non accade nella parte occidentale di Berlino, forse perché i media, soprattutto quelli stranieri, focalizzano la loro attenzione sulle zone più cool della Berlino ex socialista. Recentemente un'amica ha comperato una casa a Kollwitzplatz, una deliziosa zona di Prenzlauer Berg: 110m2 per 230,000 euro.
La famiglia Stern, invece, disponendo di una grande quantità di capitale e di un altrettanto alta possibilità di prestito presso le banche, ha deciso di acquistare un terreno sul quale costruire un edificio intero. Loro pensano in grande: avrebbero voluto vivere nello stesso edificio con tutti i loro amici e parenti. Poco prima di firmare il contratto hanno scoperto che il terreno nascondeva elementi chimici tossici e aveva bisogno di essere bonificato. L'operazione sarebbe durata molti anni e sarebbe costata un'ingente quantità di denaro. Per fortuna gli Stern si sono fermati in tempo e hanno scelto una grande mansarda sotto la torre della televisione, ad Alexander Platz.
Se quindi sperate di fare un buon investimento comperando un appartamento a Berlino e rivendendolo nei prossimi anni, questa non è la città, o il mercato immobiliare che fa per voi. Ma se avete pazienza e siete disposti ad aspettare almeno dieci anni, potrebbe rivelarsi un investimento vantaggioso!

Data di pubblicazione: 05/12/2006 - ore 02.01

Mittwoch, 9. August 2006

Foreign buyers attracted to Berlin real estate

With some of the lowest real estate prices in Europe, Berlin is an attractive option for foreign investors interested in buying property. We look at the American and British buyers wanting a piece of the German capital.

Berlin is considered the city with the lowest real estate prices in Europe. Even in Moscow or Prague the prices of land and houses are considerably higher than in the German capital. Despite Germany's low economic growth and high unemployment, foreign investors, above all Americans, Britons, and the Irish have discovered Berlin. The returns are considerably higher than anywhere else in Europe, and buyers are speculating that an economic upswing will finally hit Berlin.

"Berlin is in demand like never before," real estate sources say.

Changing hands

According to the latest market report, almost 25,000 purchases were registered in Berlin with more than 9 billion euros (11.5 billion dollars) changing hands in 2005. That's a huge jump from previous years where properties sold amounted to around 18,000 annually. An even greater number is expected in 2007. A square metre of a redeveloped building in a top location costs around 1,500 euros in Berlin, while in London for example the price would be around 15,000 euros. "The situation here is like London about 17 years ago, when for example no one would touch the Docklands with a barge pole," said Philipp Tabert from the real estate agency Winters & Hirsch. Today the Docklands is very popular with office renters, and London the strongest real estate location in Europe.

American interest

In Berlin the boom set in about two years ago when the city's largest residential property firm GSW sold around 65,000 units for 405 million euros to a US investor and its partner. "Thus it was shown that real estate can be had reasonably here," says Tabert. As a result, many Austrian investors came. Today the Americans and the British dominate the market, but investment funds also come from Ireland, Italy, France, Spain and Japan. "Investors from Israel have discovered Germany too," Tabert comments.Classic rental buildings with 30 apartments and one or two shops on the ground floor, commercial buildings as well as residential buildings with as many as 1,000 units are being sold. In addition, supermarkets, shopping centres and shopping malls are in demand.

Sought after

Besides the classic central areas in former West Berlin such as Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf and Schoeneberg properties are especially sought after in Kreuzberg, a trendy area and site of the yearly May Day riots between leftist activists and police. "The attractive locations in central Mitte district are already taken. There's not much left," says Tabert, but he adds that spots in up and coming trendy eastern Berlin areas of Prenzlauer Berg and increasingly Friedrichshain are becoming especially desirable. After the building of the new Berlin Brandenburg International airport in Schönefeld, the south-east of the city with Treptow, Koepenick and the troubled area of Neukoelln are attracting interest. The airport is having a positive effect on the market as investors can now fly direct to Berlin without connecting with Frankfurt, Munich or Dusseldorf.

Not so well known

The flood of foreign investors after German real estate can also be seen in other cities. "Cities like Salzgitter near Braunschweig or Pforzheim, about 40 kilometres from the French border, are not so well known abroad," says Tabert. Often real estate is packaged with Berlin properties. However highly indebted Berlin will not allow itself to redevelop its central residential districts by selling them off. "Berlin through its city-owned building associations has access to more than 250,000 residences valued at around 10 billion euros, but the city is more than 60 billion in debt," Tabert says. Earlier this year, Dresden sold off 48,000 publicly owned apartments to the US investor group Fortress and with one stroke cleared its debts, though it caused quite a stir. Berlin's left-wing government, however, is strictly against selling off state-owned residences.


source: http://www.expatica.com/de/housing/housing_info/foreign-buyers-attracted-to-berlin-real-estate-32151.html

Freitag, 23. Juni 2006

Guide to Renting Out Property in Germany

Who lists property for rent?

In Germany you will usually find two types of rental listing offers: Those from private landlords offering the house or apartment for rent, and those from agencies or brokers. Private people can either be landlords who own the house, or alternatively existing tenants who are looking for someone to take over and step into their terms of contract; or private people or companies who have actually rented a place and want to sublet it, either for commercial reasons or because they have to move to another place for a while. A final possibility would be property management institutions, banks and large-scale portfolio investors.

Who is it better to rent property from?

As in the UK private advertisements in newspapers often bring the lowest rents. As the tenant usually has to pay the agent or broker in Germany (the "Immobilienmakler", "Immobilien Firma" or short "Immobilien"), many tenants try to save this fee and go directly to landlords via these adverts. This procedure can have its problems. Normally by using an agency you deal with professionals who know the rental laws, the rules and how the contract has to be worked out between tenant and landlord. But there may be another issue too. When it comes to negotiating certain points like the rent, work to be done in the house, terms of lease time and so forth, very often both parties are well advised to have an agent as a kind of mediator.
For an investor it is best to work with a reliable agent who knows your language and gives you personal attention.

How to read home listings in papers or online

If you read German home rental listings, you will encounter some particular abbreviations :

2 ZKB = 2 Zimmer, Küche, Bad. That means a flat with two rooms, a kitchen, and a bath. Kitchen, bath, storage cabinets and hallways do not count as rooms. Germany does not list by number of bedrooms, so you have to figure out that - for example 2ZKB probably means one living room and one bedroom.

3 ZKBB = 3 Zimmer, Küche, Bad, Balkon. A balcony is now added in the second B. And another bedroom.

4 ZKBB = 4 Zimmer, Küche, Bad, Balkon. But that can be two bedrooms or three bedrooms. E.g. two bedrooms, living room and dining room.

2 1/2 ZKB = 2.5 rooms. The half room is usually a room that due to its small size cannot be counted as a full room.

The term "Studio" is seldom used. More often you find 1 Zimmer Apartment or 1 Zimmer Wohnung.

ETW means "Eigentumswohnung" and this means a condo or flat for sale within a multiple dwelling house. It refers to sales, not to rentals.

RH = Reihenhaus and is a town house or row house. Usually has only small piece of ground with it.

REH = Reihenendhaus, a townhouse at the end of a line of houses, usually more attractive and with a larger plot.

DHH = Doppelhaushälfte; semidetached home. Bigger than a Reihenhaus.

EFH = Einfamilienhaus; a house for one family. Can be RH, REH, DHH; but normally is being used for a single standing home.

Villa = villa surprisingly enough.

Bungalow = flat house with one level, sometimes with living space in the basement too.

ELW = Einliegerwohnung. Thats a separate small flat within a house, often used for a maid or as a guest apartment or being rented separately.

Mieter = Tenant

Miete = Rent

Vermieter = Landlord, lesser

mieten = to rent (verb)

vermieten = to let (verb)

NK = Nebenkosten; utilities (gas, water, electricity, garbage, tax, etc.)
Sizes

In Germany flat and house sizes offered for rent are being quoted in m² or square meters (also: sqm or Quadratmeter). How do sqm convert to square feet or square yard? One square meter = 10,764 square feet. To make it easy, just multiply the square meters by 10 and you roughly know the square footage.

Wohnfläche = Net Living space (in sqm). All rooms that are usually used for living, including bath, kitchen, hallway.

Nutzfläche = other usage space not living space (only indoor). E.g. storage, attic, rooms or space smaller than 1.50 meters, rooms with no heating in them or no windows.

Rents are based on the Wohnfläche. A large Nutzfläche however is to be considered with a portion of rent, too.

Other abbreviations

ZH = Zentralheizung. Central heating. Can be powered by gas or oil.

GEH or ETH = Gasetagenheizung. Heating system with gas which is for that one flat only.

source: Assetz Germany

Freitag, 14. April 2006

German property: why you should invest now - MONEY WEEK

Germany’s economy finally appears to be on the cusp of recovery. Confidence among business leaders is at its highest point in 14 years, says the Munich-based IFO institute, while the Essen-based RWI Economic Research Institute says the German economy will grow by 1.8% this year.
In addition, a strong and competitive export industry and a government committed to economic reforms suggests that this sleeping giant is due an awakening from its long slumber.


German property: an influx of foreign investment


Nowhere is this more evident than in the German property sector, which has seen an influx of foreign investment in the past year. The long period of economic stagnation, especially in the east, has kept house prices low.


Some investors now see this as an opportunity. And property prices in former East German cities such as Berlin and Dresden are up to 30% lower than the rest of the country, meaning that they can often offer the best deals.


For example, apartments in Berlin can be bought for a tenth of the price of similar properties in London and are even cheaper than several eastern European capitals, says Jane Slade in the Sunday Express. “Low property prices and historically low interest rates should enable [foreign] investors to enter the market without feeling they are risking much,” she adds.


Just 40% of people own their own property in Germany, but domestic demand, and therefore prices too, are set to rise as the German government starts to liberalise the mortgage market.


German property: how to invest


As you will not typically find a “for sale” sign outside a house, though, you will have to go to estate agents (Immobilienmakler), who can provide you with a list of properties. However, you should do your research carefully and look out for the nuances in property advertisements, whether in local papers or from the estate agent.


For example, ‘Grosszügige Räume’, meaning ‘large rooms’, is probably a sign that the property is expensive to heat, while ‘für Schnellentschlossene’ (‘for quick decision-makers’) more often than not points towards a property that has been on the market for a very long time and so is probably undesirable. And beware too of additional administrative and legal fees, which can add 10%-12% to your purchase price.


German property: where to find the best deals


So, where can you find the best deals on German property? As already stated, east Germany can often provide the best buys, and the father of well-known financier Jim Mellon (see box below), who recently toured the region, points out that Dresden and Leipzig in particular have a lot to offer.


A good starting point is www.germanpropertyinvestors.com; also try www.immobilienmakler-index.de, which although not in English, provides a list of estate agents in Germany. For those wishing to invest directly, see www.bundesregierung.de and www.invest-in-germany.de.
When you are dealing with a German estate agent, you should not sign an exclusivity contract, as you should pursue offers from a variety of agents. Whatever commission is charged is usually negotiable, so don’t be afraid to haggle.


German property hotspots


Dresden


A long history as a city of extraordinary beauty and cultural splendour was brought to an end following the fire bombing of Dresden in World War II, but much of ‘Florence on the Elbe’ has since been rebuilt. In 2004, Unesco declared Dresden and the surrounding area of the Elbe valley a World Heritage Site, while a flourishing cultural scene and burgeoning technological sector point to a sustainable future for the Saxon capital.


Although there is an oversupply of housing in Dresden, Mellon believes that many of the low-quality housing estates will be demolished in the next two to three years. “The more bourgeois Berlin-type of apartments will then come into demand and could be capable of showing quite useful capital gains.”


Angelika Barie-Dachs, a Dresden-based estate agent, says that the demand from property is about to increase dramatically. “After reunification, people had very little savings in the east.” Wages are now beginning to rise though, so “we expect to see demand go up.”
Leipzig


A thriving student community of 40,000 and excellent research facilities for medicine and biology should attract more people to this city over time. In fact, a modern quarter created by the authorities, called ‘media city’, has already “created 30,000 jobs in television across the whole of Germany”.


According to Mellon, “this appears to be a strategically aware town, with a coherent and thriving centre”, where it “might well be worth investing, particularly in the centre and the very close environs of the centre, which will become more attractive as incomes rise”.
Berlin


“Areas such as Charlottenburg and Mitte, which are among the most exclusive in the city, are likely to see the biggest rises over the next five years,” says Stuart Law of property investors Assetz Management, in the Sunday Express.


Expect to pay as little as £110,000 for a two-bed apartment in Charlottenberg, but even less in the arty district of Prenzlauerberg in the former East Berlin. Here, two-bed apartments sell for as little as £70,000. Law’s UK-based company has partnerships with local agents and property developers in Germany.