Long-Term German Leases Yield Half the Rent of New Contracts
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.