The expansion eastwards of the Irish investor follows a trend across Europe with entrepreneurs who made fortunes from the growth of the Celtic tiger economy buying up airports and shopping malls in England; thousands of apartments on the Spanish Costa's and Florida; and hotels and ski chalets in the Balkans. (These are the markets now flooded with inventory and falling prices where Paddies are floundering in a sea of hard lessons)
The Irish are estimated to be in the top three foreign investor nations in Berlin. However, in a city of 3,4-million, where only half of its citizens are working, German observers of the Berlin property market are extremely cautious. (They look at these Paddies and scratch their heads in bemusement)
Ralf Schoenball, a property expert for the Berlin-based daily Der Tagesspiegel, warns that Berlin may not be the best place for Irish investors to buy flats and apartments. "Don't get me wrong here. I have been here since 1983 and I love Berlin. But the economy of this city has shrunk every year since 1996 with one exception: [growth of] 1% in 2000.
"Because of the shrinking economy there are fewer Berliners working and the incomes of the households are decreasing if you take into account the cost of living. For the housing market this means that, as people have less money, an increase in rents makes it harder for them to pay. There are also 100 000 empty flats in Berlin, so tenants can move around and find the cheapest places to rent."
Morris brushes aside the cautious noises of German observers and says: "The prospects for Berlin look good in the long run. (No they don’t, the population is falling and aging and incomes are falling along with the birth rate) Many of the Germans in business here are too conservative.