Rental prices in Hamburg to districts (2025)

How expensive is living in Hamburg? (Image: Moritz Kindler, Unsplash)

If you want to rent in Hamburg, you need to know where it is – and what it costs.

In 2025, too, the market is shattered as rarely: between top locations on the Elbe and outskirts in the east there are sometimes worlds at the square meter price. The differences are not only geographical, but also structural. Anyone who has an overview makes better decisions – whether as a tenant, investor or urban planner.

Rental prices in Hamburg per square meter

The rental prices in Hamburg continue to attract in 2025 – depending on the source, the average values ​​sometimes fluctuate significantly.

While Wohnungsboerse.net with 17.23 €/m² gives the highest value, immoportal.com gives an average of 15.38 €/m² on, with a range of 12.61 to € 19.62/m² depending on the location. The much -noticed study of the Ohmoor high school comes up 15.62 €/m²an increase of 7.1 % compared to the previous year. Engel & Völkers reports € 16.95/m²Immoscout24, however, only € 12.80/m².

In comparison, the official rental mirror 2023 works € 9.83/m² Almost antiquated – it mainly depicts inventory rents, while the portals show primarily new contract rents.

For the new rent level 2025, data collection is currently underway (key date: April 1).

Rental prices in Hamburg to districts

You could say Hamburg is a city with many faces – at least if you look at the rental prices.

Between Steilshoop and HafenCity are not just 15 kilometers as the crow flies, but also worlds on the rental market. And I mean literally: the differences between the districts are now up to 300 percent per square meter. Welcome to a city that makes real estate prices appear like a foray through several countries.

Let’s take a look at the top: The HafenCity remains the most expensive pavement in the city – with Average € 29.19/m².

This is no coincidence: Large new buildings dominate here, often with a water view, concierge service and underground car park. Rother tree (€ 25.74/m²) and Harvestehude (€ 24.50/m²) Follow tight, with a tenant clientele that often has more owner status. In one of my last projects in Harvestehude – a core -renovated old building floor – the offers were even over € 30/m². And they were taken. The market plays here in its own league.

A little more relaxed, but by no means cheap, it will be in districts like Eimsbüttel (€ 16.29/m²),, Eppendorf (€ 16.68/m²) or Altona-Altstadt (€ 16.09/m²). These are typical “bread-and-butter” layers for well-paid urban tenants: old building, good connection, neighborhood life at the door. Remarkable here: The price increases are more moderate – around 4–5 % annuallywhich means a certain calculability for investors.

And then there is the other end of the scale: Billstedt with € 7.04/m²,, Steepshoop with € 6.80/m² – The latter, by the way, a quarters, where almost 95 % of the residential buildings from the 1970s come, hardly renovated, with a corresponding rental level.

Rental prices in Hamburg for new building

The rental prices for new apartments in Hamburg move at a high, sometimes strongly segmented level in 2025.

On average, the new tree areas are included 18.18 €/m²around 5.5 % above the city -wide average. The range is enormous: in peripheral locations like New Allermöhe Start the prices at about 15.38 €/m²while in the HafenCity with € 29.19/m² the upper end of the market is marked.

In established residential areas such as Eimsbüttel and Eppendorf the new tree rents move between 19.62 and € 21.50/m²with modern KfW-40 buildings achieve a significant surcharge compared to the inventory. South of the Elbe, such as in Neugraben or Harburgthe values ​​are between depending on the equipment level € 14.06/m² for new buildings and partly under € 7.00/m² in modernized stock.

In addition to increased construction costs (+8–9 % annually), high property prices (average 9,590 €/m² in top locations) and financing costs (4.2–5.8 % effective interest). New buildings in the KfW-55 or 40 standard also achieve rental installments from up to 2.20 €/m².

Small apartments and microapartments up to 40 m² reach top values ​​of over 20 €/m²while Family-friendly 3-4 room apartments average 16.27 €/m² a little cheaper. Funded living space Is with just 18 % share Significantly underrepresented on the new building volume – and meets a growing demand: 6,320 new apartments face 11,400 searching households.

The result: short marketing times (23 days), high sightseeing and continued rent increases from Around 4–5 % annually.

How did rental prices develop in Hamburg?

The development of rental prices in Hamburg is basically a history of constant movement – sometimes leisurely, sometimes rapidbut always in one direction: up.

What once started as an gradual increase has been condensed into a structural dynamic since the 2010s that increasingly puts many households under pressure.

Let’s take a look at the long -term development:

Until 2010 the price increase was relatively even, with one Annual increase rate of around 2.68 % over 28 years.

After that, however, the situation tightened noticeably: Between 2010 and 2025 the rents climbed by more than 70 % – driven by housing shortages, increased construction costs, high property prices and increasing demand.

Current dynamics (2023–2025)

The difference between inventory and new contract rents is particularly striking. During the Official rental mirror 2023 still from € 9.83/m² goes out (based on older tenancy), move Current new rentals 2025 depending on the location between € 12.80 and € 17.23/m² – with annual increases of sometimes over 7 %.

Some peak values:

• HafenCity: € 29.19/m² (+39 % compared to 2024)))

• Rother tree: 25.74 €/m²

• New buildings: 18.18 €/m² (+4.33 % vs. previous year)))

And the prices also rise in the lower segment – albeit more moderate:

Clepch between inventory and new letting

These price differences are now manifested in a structural division of the rental market:

Anyone who rented again today pays considerably more – and bears a noticeably higher load.

The causes are diverse: exploding material and property costs, rising interest rates, stricter energy requirements and an offer gap of over 5,000 residential units in 2025 alone. At the same time, the vacancy rate remains extremely low with 1.9 %.

The result is a tense market environment in which investors, project developers and tenants increasingly have to move between funding programs, price regulation and market sensuality.

The scissors continue to work – and will remain a decisive topic in the coming years.

Forecast: This is how the rental level will develop in the coming years

When we talk about the rental price development in Hamburg until 2030, we move on a narrow line between real economy necessity and political reality. The direction is clear: the rental level will continue to rise – the only question is how fast, how strong, and for whom.

Already today we see: the city grows, the living space is not at the same pace.

While the average rent for new buildings in 2025 is € 18.18/m², inventory rents in the rental mirror still record € 9.83/m² – a difference of almost 85 %. These scissors will continue to open in the coming years because structural factors such as construction costs, space availability, interest rates and climate standards increase the pressure on the upper market segment – and at the same time apply funding measures in the lower area.

Let’s take a look at a realistic scenario:

In districts such as Hafencity or Rotherbaum, where new buildings dominate and international demand does not break off, rents of € 38–40/m² are absolutely realistic by 2030. In the more peripheral locations such as Billstedt or Neuenfelde, on the other hand, there will be rather moderate growth of 3–4 % annually – not least because of the limited investment incentives and partially missing infrastructure.

Without a profound political change of course, Hamburg will continue to develop into a two-stage market in the long term. Premium layers and new buildings attract while regulated stocks stagnate – at least on paper. In practice, however, a creeping increase will take place even in the existence of modernizations and relays.

The largest uncertainty factor remains the interest environment. If the ECB keeps the key interest on, project developments become more expensive and less common, which in turn snatches the offer – and thus drives rents up. If the economy tilts, the demand could decrease temporarily, but the structural lack of housing remains.

Rents will increase – maybe not every year at the same pace, but in total noticeable.

For tenants, this means growing burden, increasing earnings opportunities for investors – provided that they navigate the complexity of the market with foresight