I have rented or bought in three cities: Bologna, Amsterdam and Berlin. They may differ substantially in the quality of life and the climate they offer but still have much in common: a frenetic student life and the many contradictions of the European real estate market.

When I was living in Bologna, my hometown, as a student, I first encountered the difficulties, not to say impossibilities, of the Italian real estate market. Along with three other people, I had set up a small book business and we needed a space in the town centre for the shop.

The average prices, even for a small space on a dark back street, were shocking. Besides, most of the landlords were extremely suspicious of anyone who couldn't offer the strongest credentials -- that means small entrepreneurs, students and young people without a solid financial history stood little chance.

Although I was living with my parents in their apartment, I was aware of the ordeal many students relocating to Bologna experienced in trying to find a room in a decent area. The scandalous situation of renting in university towns is not a phenomenon restricted to Italy and isn’t anything new to me. What I didn't expect, instead, was to come across a situation reminiscent of medieval society.

Some citizens accumulated property in the middle of town, building up personal "fiefdoms" that may fit in with the medieval look of Bologna but certainly contrasts with the noble and civilised values of our contemporary society. We met private landlords who possessed several apartments and shops in the best locations on certain streets, building up monopolies where they could dictate prices and rules at will.     

The situation doesn’t seem to have improved in the recent years: On one of my last trips to Bologna, ads were hanging on the university's walls and notice boards in downtown areas offering "beds" for EUR 350 a month (plus expenses). That means sharing a room with someone else, possibly a stranger, without a contract and strict restrictions on the use of the house facilities.

The general impression is that things have dramatically changed over the past decades, and not for the better. My parents had the chance to live their lives in an age of economic growth, social security and optimism, a time when buying a house was a much more of a realistic undertaking than it is for people born in the past 30 years. At the moment, the price of an apartment in Bologna, in a nice central area, is between EUR 4,500 to 7,000 per square meter. Even choosing to live in less attractive districts or in the modern suburbs far from the historic city centre doesn’t allow for apartments less than EUR 3,000 per square meter.

 Bologna

On relocating to Amsterdam, I found many similarities to the situation in Bologna: A growing black rental market totally out of control; inflated prices even for small apartments outside the city centre; extortionate procedures from real estate agencies; and hopeless waiting lists for social housing.

Unless you are ready to share your space with someone, there is little hope in finding a decent apartment at an affordable price without a massive stroke of luck. Yet, for a long time, Amsterdam has been a Mecca for artists and people able to take advantage of the Dutch government's subsidies and social assistance. Applicants who met certain requirements were able to obtain cheap ateliers and apartments and even regular salaries. With the worsening of the economy in the past years, funds were cut, sometimes abruptly, and more restrictions introduced in order to reduce the number of people on financial assistance.

As a result, Amsterdam started losing its role of sanctuary for creative types to Berlin, which on the contrary, has been attracting increasingly more filmmakers, actors, musicians and artists of all kinds thanks to its inexpensive housing.

 Searching house in the Jordaan

During the summer of 2009, with the credit crisis at its peak, the collapse of many banks and the mortgage system bogged down, housing prices in the Netherlands improved for a short time. But it wasn’t enough to make a significant difference.

The ideal house

My neighbour, who had been living for many years in a cramped 40-square-meter apartment in the Jordaan district of Amsterdam, ended up buying an 81-square-meter apartment for EUR 340,000 in further out Amsterdam West: This was supposed to be a "discounted" price because the apartment is still under construction (it is slated to be ready in 2011).

I also searched for a home, through personal contacts, friends, real estate agencies, websites and newspapers. The best I could find was a 75-square-meter apartment on the waterfront in Amsterdam Oost (East) for 275,000. And the price was "low" because the neighbourhood, to use the words of the real estate agent who was showing me the place, "is considered to be a bad one." In the same period, I decided to extend my housing search to Berlin, a cosmopolitan city I had come to know through many trips in previous years, and where I was eventually planning to relocate. It was a good idea: I ended up finding the cheapest prices per square meter ever.

The beauty of the German capital, with the modern "ugly" buildings of many of its districts, is not comparable to that of the “Venice of the North,” as Amsterdam is sometimes called. Yet, it exerts a unique appeal, which has made it one of the most visited cities in the world. The architectural legacy of the Communist East Germany, with its predominantly gloomy buildings, doesn't affect all districts. Many streets have preserved their pre-war character, even in East Berlin. Buildings have been often renovated with respect to their original historical design. And the Spree crosses the city, branching out in minor channels, offering the beauty of a waterfront to residents. It is even disputed whether Amsterdam or Berlin has more bridges (Berlin has between 978 and 2,200 and Amsterdam, 1,200, according tourist guides and encyclopedias).

The contrast between the two cities becomes more stunning, if we move from the subject of aesthetic considerations to the housing market. Unlike the rest of Europe and, indeed, the rest of Germany, Berlin's property market seems to be immune from the constant changes affecting housing prices elsewhere. Almost a permanent construction site since the end of World War II, Berlin saw a boom in the early 1990s, just after the tumbling of the Berlin Wall, with governmental offices relocating from the former capital of Bonn, Western investors renovating entire blocks in East Berlin and the springing up of hotels to accommodate a growing tourism industry.

 Berlin: Winter evening sky, a view from my balcony in Prenzlauer Berg

And the history of the city certainly plays a role in giving the German capital its cheaper housing: high unemployment rates and a drop in the number of residents due to those going west in the past few decades (although later counterbalanced by the arrival of foreigners, students and artists) helped keep property prices low. Still, that doesn't make the process of finding a home any easier than anywhere else.

The prices differ substantially from district to district and sometimes even from street to street. The monthly condominium expenses can be extremely high and, reselling the apartment at a profit in the future is not always a certainty. Besides, there is the impression of chaos, a market lacking clear rules, where a stroke of luck makes the difference. Still, there are many advantages to Berlin housing: large apartments, often newly renovated and including cellars and parking spots, located in traditionally nice districts at good prices, even as low as EUR 1,000 to 1,200 per square meter. In my search, I visited many buildings in Tiergarten, on the waterfront and in Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding, which ranged between 85 and 120 square meters. The highest price I encountered was EUR 156,000. 

 Exploring the Housing Market

The Berlin property market is changing fast. What was true yesterday may not be true today or tomorrow. Still, compared to Bologna and Amsterdam, Berlin these days still offers possibilities unthinkable in Italy and the Netherlands.
 
Michele Carloni/Expatica

Michele Carloni is an artist living in Berlin

Photos credit: Michele Carloni