Düsseldorf – October 29, 2026 -- Landlords who have rented to the same tenants for at least 20 years collect an average net rent of €8.29 per square meter, against €16.20 on a new contract, roughly half. The figures come from the Vermieterspiegel 2026, published by property software provider immocloud with scientific support from EBS University for Business and Law. The study analyzed anonymized data from running leases in twelve large German cities.
Portals and rent indices miss the existing-lease gap
Property portals show only asking rents. The official rent index (Mietspiegel) covers only rents agreed or changed in the past six years. Neither source records what tenants in long-running contracts actually pay.
immocloud CEO Bastian Bauwens said many private landlords set rents without a reliable benchmark. He said the company can measure existing-stock rents because it manages more than 550,000 units.
Berlin discounts each contract year at nearly twice Düsseldorf's rate
Berlin and Düsseldorf are almost level on average rent and on new-contract rent. In contracts running 12 years or longer, however, Düsseldorf tenants pay €9.18 per square meter and Berlin tenants pay €7.53, less than half of a new Berlin lease.
For apartments of the same size, rent falls by an average of 2.5% per contract year in Berlin and 1.3% in Düsseldorf.
Twelve-city range runs from €18.21 in Munich to €7.29 in Duisburg
The report lists values for all twelve cities, with Munich at €18.21 per square meter and Duisburg at €7.29. EBS professor Sven Henkel said contract age shows how far existing-stock and new-let rents have diverged, a finding portal statistics cannot deliver.
The data covers anonymized records from more than 550,000 units managed with immocloud, with an analysis period ending June 30, 2026.