A study by DIP – Deutsche Immobilien-Partner, covering 15 German office markets – including Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt am Main, Freiburg, Hamburg, Hannover, Karlsruhe, Cologne, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart – offers a detailed overview of the current situation. The evaluation allows for the identification of regional differences and structural characteristics depending on the market size of the respective cities. In the first half of 2026, a decline in take-up was registered in most of these markets, indicating a slowdown in market dynamics.
Total office take-up, including owner-occupiers, reached approximately 1.59 million square metres in the first half of 2026. This represents a decrease of around 6.2 percent compared to the same period last year, when 1.69 million square metres were transacted. The slight recovery observed in 2025 has thus not continued. Concurrently, office vacancy in the analysed DIP markets increased by around 11.2 percent within one year to currently approximately 9.88 million square metres. This led to an increase in the vacancy rate from 6.4 percent at the end of June 2025 to now 7.3 percent.
Despite declining take-up and increased vacancy, an increase in the average weighted prime rent was recorded in the analysed office markets. It rose by EUR 1.44 per square metre or 4.7 percent to approximately EUR 31.79 per square metre compared to the same period last year. In the first half of 2025, this figure was still around EUR 30.35 per square metre. The average rent in city centre locations also increased by 2.5 percent to EUR 19.71 per square metre.
Background to Market Development and Regional Differences
The current market situation is characterised by a wait-and-see attitude among many office tenants. Reasons for this include ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, which has led to price increases for oil, gas and raw materials, as well as a hesitant economic recovery. Furthermore, flexible working models such as New Work and home office favour a reduction in required office space by companies. These factors have contributed to reduced activity in the office markets at most DIP locations. Only Berlin and Munich recorded increasing take-up, with a rise of 55 percent in Berlin and 24 percent in Munich.
The office market in Düsseldorf remained relatively stable with a decrease of only 4 percent. However, other locations suffered more significant drops in take-up, which were substantial in some cases. For example, Frankfurt am Main could not maintain its top position from the previous year and recorded a decline of 49 percent. Karlsruhe registered a take-up decrease of 74 percent, although these significant changes at both locations are attributable to cut-off date effects in 2025, which led to above-average take-up at that time.
Developments in the 'Big Seven' and other DIP Markets
A divergent development was observed within the so-called 'Big Seven' (Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt/Main, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Stuttgart). While Berlin and Munich recorded significant gains, Frankfurt experienced sharp declines. Total take-up in the 'Big Seven' amounted to 1.37 million square metres, representing a slight decrease of 1.4 percent compared to the previous year (1.39 million square metres). The share of the 'Big Seven' in the total analysed DIP office market thereby increased to 86 percent, compared to 82 percent in the previous year.
- —Berlin advanced to become the city with the highest take-up, with a 55 percent increase to approximately 380,000 square metres.
- —Munich followed in second place with approximately 355,000 square metres and a 24 percent increase.
- —Hamburg secured third place with 185,000 square metres despite a slight decrease of 12 percent.
- —Frankfurt am Main fell back to fourth place with 177,000 square metres and a 49 percent decrease.
In the eight other DIP office markets outside the 'Big Seven', a more significant decline in office take-up was recorded. This fell by 28 percent to 222,000 square metres, compared to 307,500 square metres in the previous year. Decreases in take-up were observed at all these locations, indicating that the weaker economic climate had an above-average impact on smaller and medium-sized locations.
The total volume of short-term available office space in the 15 DIP locations increased by 996,900 square metres over the year, corresponding to an 11 percent rise, to approximately 9.9 million square metres. The average vacancy rate increased from 6.4 percent to 7.3 percent during this period. In the 'Big Seven', the increase in available supply amounted to approximately 0.77 million square metres, a rise of about 10 percent, bringing the available volume of space there to roughly 8.20 million square metres. The vacancy rate in the 'Big Seven' increased from 7.7 percent to 8.4 percent. A similar trend was observed in the medium-sized locations, where the available supply also increased and vacancy rose by approximately 226,400 square metres or 16 percent.
