Capital Gains Tax When Selling Property in Berlin
The 10-year rule (Spekulationsfrist), exemptions and exit planning. LDP Group buys in Berlin and works with English-speaking partner notaries. FM Zinswerk, an independent mortgage broker licensed under § 34i GewO, advises on and brokers the loan; the tax structure is set by the tax firm Helm & Partner before the notary date; LDP prepares the file and coordinates.
Book a free screening callIllustrative estimate at a 4.3% assumed interest rate (10y fixed, from our rate table, refreshed every two weeks) plus 2% initial amortisation. Actual terms depend on the property, your profile and the lender. Not financial advice.
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Capital Gains & Selling in Berlin: what to know
Sell a privately held Berlin property within 10 years of purchase (notary date to notary date) and the gain is taxed at your personal rate: up to 45% plus solidarity surcharge. Hold past 10 years and the entire gain is tax-free. Owner-occupiers exit earlier: occupancy in the sale year plus the two preceding calendar years (partial years count) exempts the gain fully.
Two traps: selling more than three properties within five years risks classification as commercial trading (gewerblicher Grundstückshandel), taxing everything; and prior AfA reduces your cost basis, enlarging the taxable gain on early exits. Model your exit before you buy: it changes the optimal holding structure.
The Berlin market in numbers
Berlin (Berlin) has 3,700,577 residents. Existing apartments average around €5,320/m² (citywide range roughly €3,340–€7,020/m²), with new-builds at about €8,450/m². Average asking cold rent is about €18/m² (this asking average includes furnished and temporary lets, so it overstates unfurnished rents), putting the gross rental yield near 4.1%.
Price momentum: +6% year-on-year. After the 2022 rate shock Berlin resale prices corrected −5% (2023) and −3% (2024), then rebounded +6% in 2025 and +1% in H1 2026: 5-year CAGR only ~1.3% vs 7.3% p.a. over 10 years.
Vacancy: roughly 0.3% (CBRE-empirica-Leerstandsindex 2025, cited by Hypofriend, July 2026). That is effectively full occupancy: supply scarcity drives both rents and letting speed.
Where to buy in Berlin
Mitte, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg trade clearly above the city average; that is where investment demand concentrates. Value- and yield-oriented buyers look at Lichtenberg and Pankow, which trade clearly below the city average, where gross yields are usually higher and management takes more work.
Mitte: The historic and political centre around Museumsinsel, Brandenburger Tor and Potsdamer Platz: Berlin's most expensive borough, with prime new-builds topping €13,000/m². Apartments trade around €7,000–€9,200/m².
Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg: International, alternative and nightlife-heavy twin district along the Spree, popular with young professionals and creatives. Apartments trade around €5,500–€6,300/m².
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf: Classic West Berlin elegance around Kurfürstendamm with grand Altbau stock; the Grunewald villa quarters are among the city's most expensive addresses. Apartments trade around €5,600–€7,500/m².
Pankow (incl. Prenzlauer Berg): Family-friendly borough whose southern district Prenzlauer Berg, renovated Gründerzeit Altbau, cafés, playgrounds, commands well above the borough average. Apartments trade around €4,700–€5,100/m².
Neukölln: Berlin's multicultural gentrification hotspot bordering Tempelhofer Feld, with a lively bar scene around Weserstraße; prices stabilising after the 2023/24 correction. Apartments trade around €4,800–€5,200/m².
Lichtenberg: Former East Berlin working-class borough next to Friedrichshain, now a rising investor favourite around Rummelsburger Bucht: often €1,500/m² cheaper than its trendy neighbour. Apartments trade around €4,000–€4,900/m².
The district bands come from separate sources and dates, so some sit outside the citywide range quoted above.
Taxes & buying costs in Berlin
Property transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer) in Berlin is 6%. Add approximately 2% for notary and land registry (statutory GNotKG fees), so purchase costs come to about 8% of the price; buying through an agent adds the buyer's commission (typically 2.98–3.57%), while LDP purchases carry no additional broker fee (Maklerprovision) on top of the price. For a standard profile German banks do not finance these costs.
Held privately, the property can be sold tax-free after the 10-year Spekulationsfrist; before that, gains are taxed at your personal rate. Depreciation (AfA) shelters rental income: 2% p.a. for buildings completed 1925–2022 (2.5% before 1925), 3% for buildings completed from 2023, and qualifying new projects started between October 2023 and September 2029 can choose 5% degressive depreciation instead of the linear rate.
General information, not tax advice. LDP Group gives no tax advice: the tax structure is set by the tax firm Helm & Partner (Steuerberater) before the notary date, and LDP prepares the purchase figures and coordinates.
Berlin is a designated tight housing market: the Mietpreisbremse caps new-lease rents at roughly 10% above the local comparative rent (Mietspiegel), and the reduced Kappungsgrenze limits in-tenancy increases to 15% within three years. Factor the achievable regulated rent, not the asking-rent headline, into your underwriting.
Data & sources
Figures from the sources named below, mostly portal asking prices, checked in July 2026. Asking prices typically run 5–15% above notarised transaction values: where both exist, the source basis is stated.
Population: Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, Bevölkerungsfortschreibung Stand 31.12.2025 (press release June 2026).
Purchase prices: GUTHMANN Estate market report H1 2026, based on Gutachterausschuss Berlin notarised transaction data (avg resale €5,320/m²; borough averages Spandau €3,340 to Mitte €7,020).
Rents: GUTHMANN Estate 2026 (avg asking net cold rent, existing apartments; includes furnished/temporary lettings so skews high; new-build asking €22/m²).
Yield: computed from price+rent above (€18/m² × 12 / €5,320/m² = 4.06%).
Price trend: GUTHMANN Estate 2026 (transaction prices 2024 €4,980 → 2025 €5,290/m²).
Vacancy: CBRE-empirica-Leerstandsindex 2025 (market-active vacancy, data year 2024), cited by Hypofriend (updated July 2026).
Frequently asked questions
Does the 10-year clock restart if I refinance?
No. Refinancing, renovating or re-letting never restarts the Spekulationsfrist: only the acquisition dates in the notarised contracts count. Inherited property inherits the deceased's original acquisition date, often making immediate tax-free sales possible.
Can foreigners buy investment property in Berlin?
Yes. Non-residents can buy property in Berlin without German citizenship or residency. Financing is available to expats and Blue Card holders; non-residents typically need 40–50% equity, while German tax residents usually bring 10–20% of the price (80–90% loan-to-value as standard, up to 100% with a strong income profile), plus the purchase costs in both cases.
What are the total buying costs in Berlin?
On top of the purchase price, budget 6% property transfer tax (Berlin) and about 2% notary and land registry, so about 8% in total. Where an agent is involved, the buyer's commission (typically 2.98–3.57%) comes on top; LDP purchases carry no additional broker fee.
What rental yield can I expect in Berlin?
Gross yields in Berlin average around 4.1%, higher in value districts such as Lichtenberg and Pankow and lower in prime locations like Mitte.
How much is property per square metre in Berlin?
Existing apartments average about €5,320/m² to buy and roughly €18/m² cold rent per month, varying significantly by neighbourhood and condition.