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Berlin to boom at last, says expert |
Written by Jim Barnaby
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
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By autumn it will be 19 years since one of the most significant events
in the history of Berlin, when the physical wall which had divided the
city since 1961 was breached and the ideological barrier between the
two sides also tumbled. In those heady days, the city lay at the heart
of a counter-revolution that united a divided country and saw the winds
of change sweep through Europe. Then came the reality. Berlin property Germany economically and socially. Its industries had been proposed up by subsidies in the west and by a now abandoned state system in the east. While Germany as a whole struggled with recession in the days after reunification, Berlin fared particularly badly, with the inevitable social tensions between people who had grown up living very different lives. While much of the latter is an issue for sociological study, the economic aspect is of relevance to property investors, who may have wondered if and when the city, now the capital of a nation once more, would start to see any kind of property boom. Why go there, it might be asked, rather than affluent Munich or finance capital Frankfurt? Indeed, why look at Germany at all, where the kind of property boom that has happened in so many other European countries has not occurred? Discussing this, the manager of German property estate agency Top-Immobilien, Michael Schmidt, said that the next few years will see developments that investors will enjoy. He noted that in Germany as a whole, the proportion of owner occupiers is much lower than in other countries and lower still in Berlin. He commented: "That means that there is more and more demand. At the moment there is no reason for tenants to buy a flat, for example, because rents are cheap. When they buy the property, they have to pay the interest on repayments - and at the moment, rents are cheaper." However, this will change, he stated: "But from last year to this year, we saw increases to rents of ten per cent. Next year it will be ten per cent again, and again - and then they will decide to buy." Therefore landlords may have two exciting possibilities - firstly that of rising rental income and secondly the chance of being able to sell on the property at a profit as buyer demand rises and consequently pushes up house prices. Mr Schmidt said there was "a lot of potential" for price increases, noting that not only was Berlin property cheaper than places like Munich, but it is also in the middle of a vast wave of investment which has put €80 billion (£61 billion) into the city so far and has more to go. So could Berlin finally be booming? This week the city joined Munich, Frankfurt and Hamburg in the top ten of European locations for property and investment, according to research by CB Richard Ellis. While this is a reflection of the wider economy and not just the residential sector, the economic improvement of Germany may be another factor in helping Berlin to achieve the growth it has been hoping for. In today's world Property investment is an excellent investment option especially investment in UK Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com |
About The Author:
Jim Barnaby is a real estate investment broker and successful property investment adviser delivering research and selected UK and overseas property investment solutions with experience in spanish properties, french property investment, German property, Cyprus holiday homes, Property in Cape Verde, German property investment, cape verde property buy to let property
Jim Barnaby is a real estate investment broker and successful property investment adviser delivering research and selected UK and overseas property investment solutions with experience in spanish properties, french property investment, German property, Cyprus holiday homes, Property in Cape Verde, German property investment, cape verde property buy to let property
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