Berlin Vacation Rental Market: City Profile

Wondering about the health and overall makeup of the Berlin vacation rental market? We’ve got you covered.

Before launching full-steam into 2020, our team at AirDNA is taking this opportunity to provide a data-driven overview of the Berlin vacation rental market. 

How did the German capital fare when faced with a slowing market in 2019? Looking beyond total supply and demand -- how “professional” are hosts in Berlin? Where exactly is demand being found? How much is Berlin affected by seasonality? In this city profile, we’ll dive into everything from booking lead time to occupancy rates, average daily rates, minimum night stay policies, ideal accommodation sizes, and much more.

If you’re looking to learn more about Berlin’s vacation rental market, we’ll be in town! Schedule a demo to visit our booth at the world’s largest travel trade show, ITB Berlin (March 4th to March 8th, 2020).

The supply of Berlin’s vacation rental market is anything but stable. As seen by the zigzagging trends below, hosts and property managers in Berlin are extremely proactive and quick to respond to ebbing and flowing demand. Regulations have been implemented (and repealed), and many hosts are extremely flexible about when they choose to publish their listings.

Key takeaways from Berlin’s short-term rental supply:

- As of January 1st, 2020, Berlin was home to just shy of 15,000 vacation rental listings. 
- Interestingly enough just 58% of these are ‘entire home’ listings and 41% are private rooms. This theme runs contrary to destinations on the coast or in the mountains. It’s therefore a market where owning an entire home is by no means a barrier to entry. 
- Smaller properties -- specifically studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms -- make up 91% of all vacation rentals. 

Unlike other European vacation rental market heavyweights, Berlin’s host profile is relatively unprofessional. In order to measure professionalism or market maturity, the best metric is the count of hosts managing more than one property.

In Berlin, there are vastly more single-property hosts than professional hosts (90% vs 10%). Especially after seeing the above distribution of entire home listings vs private room listings, it’s clear that Berlin is still home to plenty of DIY hosts.

Even the 10% of hosts who do manage more than one property don’t occupy a massive segment of the market -- just 25.6%. In London, for comparison, professional hosts actively manage over 55% of all vacation rental listings. The same story is true for Barcelona (65%), Rome (64%), Dublin (43.4%), and many others.

OTA Market Share: Berlin Dominated by Airbnb

The makeup of Berlin’s OTA landscape is about at clean-cut as it gets: Airbnb is the clear platform of choice. With over 97% of properties listed only on Airbnb, any conversation about the benefits of multi-channel distribution are effectively null and void.

From lakeside getaways in Lindau to idyllic country homes in Weimar, there are plenty of markets scattered throughout Germany where listing on Vrbo and other sites deserves serious consideration. Berlin, however, is not one of those markets. 

Average Daily Rates and Occupancy Rates in Berlin

Markets with over 15,000 vacation rentals don’t tend to see major fluctuations in average daily rates -- and that’s exactly the case here in Berlin. Since July of 2017, average daily rates for all rentals haven’t gone below $90 or above $100. The market has effectively found its threshold.

This isn’t to say there aren’t outliers -- in fact, there are many outstanding listings in the 95th percental charging upwards of $300 per night -- but the true market average hovers between $90 and $100.

In terms of occupancy, few cities perform as well as Berlin. When compared to other large urban destinations in Europe, Berlin consistently maintains higher occupancy rates. Summer months near 90% for hosts in the 50th percentile, while winter months don’t dip much below the mid-60s. 

Speaking of summer vs winter months, an overview of the Berlin vacation rental market wouldn’t be complete without a look at its seasonality index. With a seasonality score of 87, Berlin has very little offseason. The best three-month stretch is July through September, with September being the best overall month.

In terms of booking lead time, traveling to Berlin is often highly anticipated. On average, guests book their stays well over two months in advance. Thus, hosts and property managers must be locked into demand spikes and lulls well before this buffer period. 

Like any city, there are certain hotspots throughout Berlin where supply and demand tend to congregate. By leveraging MarketMinder’s neighborhood lists feature, we’re able to see exactly how listings are distributed in the city, and which regions are charging the most per night. In terms of active listings, Friedrichshain-Kreuzbreg leads the pack with Mitte and Pankow following closely behind.

In terms of average daily rates, properties in Mitte top their neighbors in any other region.

If you’re looking to do your own research and navigate the data yourself, head over to MarketMinder and learn more about Berlin’s vacation rental market. Also, feel free to stop by at ITB Berlin between March 4th and March 8th!

Here's our data-driven rundown of the Berlin vacation rental market. Navigate the short-term rental space in Berlin with industry-leading vacation rental data.