GREIX Rental Price Index Q1 2026: Rental price growth loses momentum

The increase in asking rents in German cities continued to weaken in the first quarter of 2026. On average across the country, asking rents rose by 0.5 percent in nominal terms compared with the previous quarter and by 2.9 percent compared with the same quarter last year. This is the lowest nominal annual growth rate since 2021 Q4. Adjusted for inflation, rents already declined slightly by 0.1 percent quarter on quarter. At the same time, developments across the largest cities have become increasingly heterogeneous; in Berlin, asking rents were already slightly below their level a year earlier. These findings are based on the latest update of the GREIX Rental Price Index published by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. The index analyzes asking rents for apartments in 37 German cities and regions, including the 30 most populous cities, using data from the VALUE Marktdatenbank.

Kiel Institute Experts