Why Right Now Is the Perfect Time to Buy

What the Market Looks Like Right Now

The Berlin market has done largely what we expected through 2026. Steady, with a slight upward curve returning. Interest rates have been fairly stable with some minor fluctuations. The family-sized buyer market has been moving well, provided asking prices are kept at sensible levels. People always need to move home because life changes, and as such there is always a demand for the right properties. A functioning market doing what a functioning market should. Interestingly, and leading to the main point of this post, what we have also seen is a return of the forward thinking investors. We don´t necessarily mean the ones looking for immediate high returns, but investors who are seeing the opportunity and playing the long game.

Which is exactly the point.

The Buy Low, Sell High Problem

People talk about timing the property market the way they talk about timing the stock market. In theory it's straightforward: buy at the bottom, sell at the top. In practice, it's virtually impossible to get exactly right.

Here's what actually happens. When the market turns upwards, and prices start rising again, two things occur at the same time. Sellers hold back, because they sense prices are going higher. Buyers flood in, because they've read that now is a good time to buy.

The result: very little good quality stock available, and intense competition for what there is. Buyers who are ready to go, with financing in place and a clear decision made, find themselves all of a sudden unable to find the right property. Compromises get made. People settle for something that doesn't quite work, because the alternative is being priced out of their calculation for the ideal property and consistently missing out with their offers.

That shift in market conditions happens extremely quickly, in both directions. If you want to buy at the absolute bottom or sell at the absolute peak, you have a window of a few weeks. Virtually impossible to reach unless you have a whole lot of luck.

Why Right Now Works

Right now, the scenario for buyers is perfect.

We've been through a correction. Prices adjusted down from their 2021 and early 2022 highs, by around 10 to 15% in many cases. (why this has happened, you can read in my previous blog articles).  That correction has settled. Prices are stable and beginning to nudge upwards again, but we are not yet in a position where good stock has disappeared from the market and competition has become fierce.

Interest rates are steady. There is a solid amount of good quality property available. Buyers have time to find the right apartment, come back for a second viewing, and make a considered decision rather than a panicked one.

That combination- stable rates, adequate supply, and a market recovering rather than racing- doesn't last indefinitely. It is a window. And right now, that window is open. Buyers should really be using that window. Many experienced people in the industry are, so should you.

The Longer Case for Buying

Beyond the timing argument, there's a more straightforward one.

Every month you continue renting, you are paying off someone else's mortgage. The sooner you get onto the ladder, the sooner you stop doing that and start building something of your own. Not just a financial asset, though that matters too, but the security and stability that comes with owning your own home.

On the financial side, the right timeframe for property is five to ten years, not two to three. Over that period, prices in Berlin will be higher than they are today. The mortgage will be further paid down. The equity position will be stronger. And the optionality that comes with ownership, the ability to refinance, to leverage, to make decisions from a position of security rather than a rental contract, is genuinely valuable.

By the time you retire, owning your home outright is one of the most straightforward paths to financial stability. That journey starts with a first purchase.

One More Thing Worth Saying

I've been in this market for nearly thirty years. I remember sitting with tenants who were seriously considering buying their apartments at €1000 per square metre and deciding against it. Some of them I spoke to multiple times. The decision not to buy weighed on some of them later, and honestly, those conversations still weigh on me too. Did I do enough convincing given I knew it was possibly the best financial decision they would ever make?

The market is never perfect. There's always a reason to wait. But the conditions we have right now, in the second half of 2026, are about as close to genuinely favourable buying conditions as I've seen since the early years of this market.

If you're thinking in a five- to ten year horizon, the case for moving now is an extremely strong one.

If you'd like to talk through what that looks like for your specific situation, we're happy to have that conversation.