by Christine Moye

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Real Estate Developer

     With the fall of the wall a memory of the past, Berliners and foreigners alike are making the move into the renovated former east sector of Berlin, creating a market boom.
     Real estate agent Lutz Herbert, 41, of Herbert and Kohlmeyer Immobilien GmbH, anticipated the boom of the Berlin real estate market about 10 years ago when he founded his company.
     “There is a sort of boom situation in Berlin as we have in Copenhagen or Dublin,” Herbert says. “The prices rose a lot in last two or so years.”
     Although prices have jumped recently, Berlin still ranks low with real estate prices.
     “It’s easy to explain why so many people come to Berlin to buy here,” Herbert says.
     A nice apartment in the Prenzlauer Berg area can be purchased for 600 to 800 euros per square meter. This roughly translates to $900 to $1,000 per square yard.
     In addition to selling apartments on the market, Herbert and Kohlmeyer Immobilien GmbH renovates run-down buildings for new occupants. Almost all buildings have been renovated in the Prenzlauer Berg area and the market will probably die down in the next five years, Herbert predicts.
     Herbert, a former journalist, and his partner Sebastian Kohlmeyer, a former fashion designer, founded their company on the basis of reasonable service prices and long-lasting customer contact. Since the boom of the market, Herbert’s company has expanded to nine employees. The expansion has called for a bigger office in Prenzlauer Berg for early September.
     “Berlin is a bargain,” Herbert says. “The prices are nothing compared to other capitals.”