07.03.2023

REALOGIS publishes Germany’s latest rental map for Q4 2022 for existing warehouse and logistics properties

• Berlin loses top spot for rents in existing properties
• Most expensive locations outside the top 8 are Ingolstadt, Nuremberg and Regensburg
• Most expensive eastern locations are Dresden, Leipzig and Zwickau
• +38.5%: biggest increase in rents in Munich
• Prime rents for functional existing properties up 12.2% on average
• Rents in existing properties getting closer to new-build level due to shortage of space
• Minimum rent rises by 16.3% on average

Munich, 7 March 2022 – Take-up for rental and owner-occupied space by all market participants for warehouse and logistics properties in Germany comes to between 8 and 9 million m² a year. New buildings traditionally enjoy the most attention, as they allow for interesting new locations or relocations of well-known retail and logistics companies as well as logistics and shipping specialists.

In 2022 alone, existing properties accounted for new lettings of more than 3 million m². Realogis defines functional existing properties as properties with a hall height of at least 7.50 m, ramps and/or ground-level delivery, spacious delivery zones and heating. They play an important role when it comes to manufacturing, storing, handling and distributing goods to consumers or business customers. Realogis – Germany’s leading consulting firm for industrial and logistics properties and business parks – has taken a closer look at how rents for such properties developed at 33 locations. The latest rental map supports experts at banks, investment and asset managers, and users from the retail sector and the logistics and distribution sector.

In terms of the absolute prime rent, the most expensive logistics location in Germany for existing properties in 2022 was Munich. “The upper end of the range is at EUR 9.00/m², representing an impressive increase of 38.5% as compared to EUR 6.50/m² in the same period of the previous year,” says Nicolas Werner, Managing Director at Realogis. Munich thus moved up two places compared to the beginning of 2022.

The top 3 places once again also included Hamburg at EUR 8.30/m² (+15.3%, Q1 22: EUR 7.20/m²) and Stuttgart at EUR 7.80/m² (+23.1%; Q1 22: EUR 6.50/m²), along with Berlin (4th place; +4%; Q4 22: EUR 7.50/m²). Berlin thus lost its top spot and dropped three places. Germany’s most expensive markets for existing logistics and warehouse properties also included Ingolstadt (5th place; EUR 6.95/m², +13%, Q4 2021: EUR 6.15/m²) and Nuremberg and Regensburg in joint seventh place at EUR 6.65/m² (both +10.8% after EUR 6.00/m² in Q1 2022).

The most affordable locations in terms of prime rents for functional existing properties are Hof and Magdeburg at EUR 4.50/m² each.

Most expensive northern locations are Hanover, Wolfsburg, Bremen and Kassel

• Hanover and Wolfsburg at EUR 5.50/m² (+2.8%, Q1 2022: EUR 5.35/m² and sideways trend in Wolfsburg’s case)
• Bremen at EUR 5.30/m² (+12.8%, Q1 2022: EUR 4.70/m²)
• Kassel at EUR 5.20/m² (+7.2%, Q1 2022: EUR 4.85/m²)

Most expensive eastern locations are Dresden, Leipzig and Zwickau

• Dresden at EUR 5.20/m²; despite a decrease of 13.3% from EUR 6.00/m², still the most expensive eastern market in terms of prime rents for existing properties
• Leipzig remains stable at the high level from the beginning of the year of EUR 5.00/m²
• Zwickau at EUR 4.70/m² (+4.4%, Q1 2022: EUR 4.50/m²)

+38.5%: biggest increase in rents in Munich
The biggest increase, irrespective of geographical location, took place in Munich. Rents for existing properties here shot up by 38.5% from EUR 6.50/m² to EUR 9.00/m².

It was followed by Augsburg (+30% from EUR 5.00/m² to EUR 6.50/m²), the Ruhr region (+25.6% from EUR 4.30/m² to EUR 5.40/m²) and Halle (+24.3% from EUR 3.70/m² to EUR 4.60/m²).

Rents did not go up at all of the 33 locations examined, as evidenced by Wolfsburg (EUR 5.50/m²), Leipzig (EUR 5.00/m²) and Heilbronn (EUR 5.50/m²), which stagnated at the level from the beginning of the year. Dresden was the only market to record a decrease, with rents here falling 13.3% from EUR 6.00/m² to EUR 5.20/m². The outlier of EUR 6.00/m² was due to the reletting of the last major existing property, which is also used for manufacturing.

Prime rents for functional existing properties up 12.2% on average
“Prime rents for functional existing properties increased by an average of 12.2% across all locations, while the average increase for the top 8 locations was higher at 18.7%. In a total of 19 markets, the year-on-year increase in prime rents for functional existing properties was in the double-digit percentage range,” says Florian Stork, Managing Director at Realogis.

The biggest gap between prime rents and minimum rents for existing properties was to be observed in the Munich and Berlin markets. In Munich, the range for functional existing properties came to EUR 3.00/m², with Berlin following at EUR 2.60/m² ahead of Stuttgart at EUR 2.30/m² and Ingolstadt and Regensburg at EUR 1.75/m² each. Minimum rents and prime rents for functional existing properties were closest in Erfurt and Düsseldorf, each with a gap of EUR 0.30/m².

“We are also seeing that rents in existing properties are inevitably getting closer and closer to the level of new properties due to a shortage of space,” reports Joel Adam, Managing Director at Realogis. “In Stuttgart, the prime rent for existing properties of EUR 7.80/m² is now higher than the minimum rent for new buildings of EUR 7.10/m².”

Minimum rent rises by 16.3% on average
Compared to the previous year, 20 markets saw double-digit increases in the minimum rent. On average across all markets, the minimum rent for functional existing properties marked an increase of 16.3%, while the minimum rent among the top 8 locations rose even more significantly by 18.5%.

Germany’s most affordable minimum rents in existing properties at the end of 2022 were recorded in Magdeburg and Hof. Users can conclude leases for as little as EUR 4.00/m² in Magdeburg (+25%; Q1 2022: EUR 3.20/m²) and for EUR 3.70/m² in Hof, the only market below the EUR 4 mark. The minimum rent did not decrease in any market, and only in Heilbronn did it stagnate at the previous year’s level of EUR 4.20/m². Back