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Berlin has less than 1% of empty rental apartments which is extremely low. This means that the rents do actually reflect the real market. And there is simply

Berlin has less than 1% of empty rental apartments which is extremely low. This means that the rents do actually reflect the real market. And there is simply no right for a cheap apartment in the center of Berlin.

mytailorisrich 6y ago
Rents pretty much always reflect the "real market". There can be speculation on property but there is no speculative gain to be made on renting and the demand for rental properties reflects the actual demand for housing. Obviously when more people want to rent than there are properties available rents go up. This is why rent caps do not solve problems. They ignore and do not address the cause of high rents and they may make things worse by reducing supply and making tenants stay put. And as you say not everyone can live in the most desirable areas, which will always be pricey.
avh02 6y ago
technically, yes. but the reality is that the population is changing. I've only been here a few years but basically everybody who's been here longer says "it's not what it used to be" in that the vibe of the city has changed greatly with it's increasing attractiveness to foreign (tech?) workers. The "original" inhabitants of the city are priced out in "favour" of expats. The "real market" itself is obviously both combined, but one segment can afford the higher prices, and there's an ever increasing number in that segment that is shifting it for everyone. Obviously I see that I'm ironically part of the problem.
- luckylion 6y ago
  > everybody who's been here longer says "it's not what it used to be" in that the vibe of the city has changed greatly with it's increasing attractiveness to foreign (tech?) workers. Meh. The people who say that have displaced the people who lived there before they moved to Berlin. And the people who lived there before they came also said that when they arrived. The people complaining about this the most aren't "original" inhabitants, they moved to Berlin 10-20 years ago because it was cheap, hip, and had less rules around things. They've changed Berlin. Now it's changing again. The circle of change, if you will. They've done it to others, now it's being done to them. Sucks every time, but claiming some sort of "the indigenous population gets removed" is false.
  - ceilingcorner 6y ago
    Cities change, often for the worse. Replacing the people that made a city’s culture notable because they can’t afford it is not good for anyone. Lower Manhattan is a shining example of this. That area is built on the memory of artists who can no longer afford to live there. It’s a weird sort of fossilization and museumification.
    - luckylion 6y ago
      > Replacing the people that made a city’s culture notable because they can’t afford it is not good for anyone. Berlin's attraction in the last 70 years (from the Western perspective) has been that it's cheap, has kind of an frontier spirit, laws and rules are much less strict, and it's being well-funded as an enclave and a thorn in East-Germany's side (it's still losing money, and is a drag on the German economy; capitals in comparable Western countries are typically strong economic motors in their country [1]). For many young men, Germany's draft (or the alternative civil service) could only be circumvented by moving to Berlin. With the Reunification, Berlin was on track to become the capital once more. That meant: gigantic amounts of money, jobs and opportunities, and that in return made Berlin extremely attractive. Before that happened, Berlin was actually shrinking. With the government moved many large corporations in Germany, and brought even more money and jobs. They made Berlin attractive. It wasn't Berlin's night life and cultural scene, those are a consequence of the attractiveness and funding, not the other way round. So it's really not that those who built it are being forced out. It's that those who were attracted to it have to share with other people who want to also live there. Sucks for them, I agree, but there's nothing unfair about it. It will also happen to those moving there today, and they'll complain as well. [1] https://qz.com/753244/berlin-is-the-only-capital-city-in-europe-that-is-a-drag-on-its-countrys-economy/ https://qz.com/753244/berlin-is-the-only-capital-city-in-eur...

mytailorisrich 6y ago

Rents pretty much always reflect the "real market". There can be speculation on property but there is no speculative gain to be made on renting and the demand for rental properties reflects the actual demand for housing. Obviously when more people want to rent than there are properties available rents go up. This is why rent caps do not solve problems. They ignore and do not address the cause of high rents and they may make things worse by reducing supply and making tenants stay put. And as you say not everyone can live in the most desirable areas, which will always be pricey.

avh02 6y ago

technically, yes. but the reality is that the population is changing. I've only been here a few years but basically everybody who's been here longer says "it's not what it used to be" in that the vibe of the city has changed greatly with it's increasing attractiveness to foreign (tech?) workers. The "original" inhabitants of the city are priced out in "favour" of expats. The "real market" itself is obviously both combined, but one segment can afford the higher prices, and there's an ever increasing number in that segment that is shifting it for everyone. Obviously I see that I'm ironically part of the problem.

luckylion 6y ago
> everybody who's been here longer says "it's not what it used to be" in that the vibe of the city has changed greatly with it's increasing attractiveness to foreign (tech?) workers. Meh. The people who say that have displaced the people who lived there before they moved to Berlin. And the people who lived there before they came also said that when they arrived. The people complaining about this the most aren't "original" inhabitants, they moved to Berlin 10-20 years ago because it was cheap, hip, and had less rules around things. They've changed Berlin. Now it's changing again. The circle of change, if you will. They've done it to others, now it's being done to them. Sucks every time, but claiming some sort of "the indigenous population gets removed" is false.
- ceilingcorner 6y ago
  Cities change, often for the worse. Replacing the people that made a city’s culture notable because they can’t afford it is not good for anyone. Lower Manhattan is a shining example of this. That area is built on the memory of artists who can no longer afford to live there. It’s a weird sort of fossilization and museumification.
  - luckylion 6y ago
    > Replacing the people that made a city’s culture notable because they can’t afford it is not good for anyone. Berlin's attraction in the last 70 years (from the Western perspective) has been that it's cheap, has kind of an frontier spirit, laws and rules are much less strict, and it's being well-funded as an enclave and a thorn in East-Germany's side (it's still losing money, and is a drag on the German economy; capitals in comparable Western countries are typically strong economic motors in their country [1]). For many young men, Germany's draft (or the alternative civil service) could only be circumvented by moving to Berlin. With the Reunification, Berlin was on track to become the capital once more. That meant: gigantic amounts of money, jobs and opportunities, and that in return made Berlin extremely attractive. Before that happened, Berlin was actually shrinking. With the government moved many large corporations in Germany, and brought even more money and jobs. They made Berlin attractive. It wasn't Berlin's night life and cultural scene, those are a consequence of the attractiveness and funding, not the other way round. So it's really not that those who built it are being forced out. It's that those who were attracted to it have to share with other people who want to also live there. Sucks for them, I agree, but there's nothing unfair about it. It will also happen to those moving there today, and they'll complain as well. [1] https://qz.com/753244/berlin-is-the-only-capital-city-in-europe-that-is-a-drag-on-its-countrys-economy/ https://qz.com/753244/berlin-is-the-only-capital-city-in-eur...