Property Investment Regions in Berlin

Reinickendorf

Reinickendorf is one of the greenest boroughs in Berlin. it is located in the northwest of Berlin and has a large lake and forestry area.

The borough has a variety of residential areas including imposing high rise tower blocks and small quaint old village centres. The district has a long industrial tradition and was home to international known names like Borsig. While much of the original industrial areas in the borough have been redeveloped there are still today many Global companies including Borsig, Motorola and Oracle. There is an interesting mix of over 9,000 businesses established in the borough in a variety of business and industrial locations.

Reinickendorf is currently the borough with the highest rate of population decline while conversely also showing the lowest vacancy rates.

This implies there has been some reduction in the total number of properties in the borough, this is generally the case where there is minimal new build and older properties are demolished or put to other uses. During the residential construction boom years (1991 – 2002) after re-unification Reinickendorf saw less new build than any other borough in Berlin except for Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, allowing for the comparative divergence in the available space between the mostly urban Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and the much more rural/suburban character of Reinickendorf this shows that the area missed out significantly on the construction boom of this period.

With an "Owner Occupancy" rate of nearly 23% it is one of a group of four boroughs (Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Reinickendorf, Treptow-Köpenick and Marzahn-Hellersdorf) which have noticeably higher owner occupancy rates than elsewhere in the city.

The common geographic locations of these four boroughs, stretching out to the rural periphery of the city boundaries, is indicative of higher owner occupancy rates in more rural neighbourhoods which have higher levels of single family properties. With the lowest ratio of property price to income in Berlin the borough has the potential for an increase in the rate of owner occupancy helping to restore the premium on property values, based on rental yield's, that the borough enjoyed in recent years.

The willingness of investors to purchase residential investment property at increasingly lower rental yields in Berlin should be a long term driver for price growth. This is definitely a long term "Buy and Hold" area where good returns can be expected but without any of the speculative gains that are possible in other areas of the city.