Berlin logistics market is booming: area turnover increases by 40 percent!

Berlin logistics market is booming: area turnover increases by 40 percent!

The Berlin industrial and logistics property market is extremely dynamic at the beginning of 2025. In the first quarter, area sales of 72,000 square meters were recorded, which means an increase of 40 percent compared to the first quarter of 2024. Interestingly, 16 percent of this turnover accounted for the urban area, while the remaining 84 percent came from the surrounding area. A main factor for the increased area turnover was a major degree, which included more than 31,000 square meters and increases the proportion of new buildings in total sales to 52 percent. No self -use were registered compared to the previous year, which is a significant difference.

The peak rent for logistics areas remained unchanged at 8.25 euros per square meter. In contrast, the vacancy in the segment of the Big Box logistics properties has increased by 1.8 percentage points to 8.9 percent within the past twelve months. This indicates a certain market saturation, while the demand for smaller areas remains stable. However, the big box segment is dependent on an economic revival in order to reduce the vacancy. In addition, Berlin has the largest project pipeline among the five largest markets in Germany, with several ten thousand square meters that have not yet been rented.

overall market and trends

As part of the German industrial and logistics property market, 4.9 million square meters of area sales were reported for 2024, which represents a decrease of 8 percent compared to the previous year. In the top 5 logistics regions, however, the decline was only a good 2 percent, while the share of area sales in these regions was expanded to 27 percent. In the final quarter 2024, area turnover of 1.3 million square meters was achieved, which was better than in the two previous quarters.

The area of ​​the retail company, including online retailers, which recorded an increase of 6 percentage points at 31 percent. The transport and logistics companies also kept their share stable at 31 percent. Production companies, on the other hand, had to accept a decline of 3 percentage points to 32 percent. The new buildings contributed 53 percent to the total sales turnover, which means a decrease of 3 percentage points. The biggest end of 2024 was an object from BMW in Straßkirchen with over 150,000 square meters.

market developments and outlook

A worrying trend is the increase in the big box empty stand to 3.4 percent, an increase of 90 percentage points. This is particularly evident in Berlin and Central Germany, where the offer is low compared to the south and southwest. Rents in markets with increased vacancy, such as Bremen and Central Germany, have also declined. In 2025, area sales could be strongly influenced by the economic situation and political developments. Companies have partially postponed their space decisions, but continued the strategic logistics planning.

According to experts, the logistics sector remains one of the most sought -after asset classes in the real estate sector. The transaction volume for logistics properties was around 7.5 billion euros in 2024, and a similar volume will be predicted for 2025. The gross strains stabilized on average at 4.75 percent, while rents in the top 8 regions should increase by up to 3.5 percent by the end of 2025. The topic of sustainability, specifically ESG criteria, is becoming more important and could lead to a emigration of companies into modernized logistics objects.

The Nearshoring trend, due to geopolitical uncertainties, is also considered important. Countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia are increasingly benefiting from it. E-commerce remains a driving factor for the further development of the logistics market.