Like London, Berlin is a collection of communities rather than a single entity — and matters are complicated further by almost 30 years of division. Although only a few vestiges of the Wall are left, there are still big differences between east and west.

Those looking for a little edge will head for the former communist east. One of the most attractive areas is Prenzlauer Berg, a leafy suburb of late 19th-century Wilhelmine buildings north of Alexanderplatz. Berlin’s answer to Islington or Wandsworth, it has become increasingly popular with young, well-heeled couples with children. Walk the streets in this Teutonic “nappy valley” and you may have to fight your way through waves of yummy mummies on their bicycles, all with the obligatory toddler on the child seat at the back.

By Berlin standards, though, prices are already high, at about £1,300 per sq m, and although rents are also above average, the yields will not be as generous as elsewhere. An alternative bet is Friedrichshain, slightly to the south, which is coming up fast in the gentrification stakes.

Parts of the former west, such as Charlottenburg, are more solidly middle-class, although those looking for excitement might be lured by Moabit, a working-class area to the north, or Kreuzberg, heart of the old “alternative” scene.

Choose your property well and it should be relatively easy to find a tenant — despite alarming reports that there are as many as 100,000 empty properties in the city.

But it is worth bearing in mind that the market is very different from in Britain — not least because renting is a long-term option for the majority. Contracts are therefore usually for an unlimited period and, although there is generally a three-month break clause on either side, it can be extremely difficult to get rid of a tenant. Looking on the bright side, though, this should also make for fewer voids. It is largely because of the high yields on offer that some big international players have been ploughing in during the past couple of years. In one of the largest such deals, Terra Firma, a British private-equity firm, this May reportedly bought a job lot of 150,000 flats, many of them in Berlin.

Such purchases also reflect a confidence that prices are due to rise after the decade of stagnation that followed the end of the post-reunification boom in the mid-1990s. Growth is likely to be steady rather than dramatic, however, making this a market for long rather than short-term investment — not least because of the costs of buying, which can add more than 10% to the price.

Ultimately, it may be all about psychology. Many of Germany’s recent economic woes have been due largely to the failure of the country’s angst-ridden consumers to dip into their pockets and spend. But the Frankfurt stock market recently hit a five-year high and there are hopes the feel-good factor could feed through to the property market. Much depends on the prevailing mood — which, in turn, brings us back to Merkel and today’s election.

HOW TO BUY IN BERLIN

Purchase costs: Stamp duty, notary fees and other administrative costs could add 5-6% to the market price. In Berlin, unusually, agents’ fees — which can be as high as 6.9% — are paid by the buyer rather than seller, but you can avoid them by buying direct from the seller. (Try www.immobilienscout24.de for property listings, in German)

Mortgages: Fairly easy to obtain, with banks typically lending 70-80%. Rates can be as low as 3.5%, normally fixed for three years

Title: Good. But be careful when buying in the former communist east that there are no outstanding problems over ownership

ON THE MARKET

A two-bedroom flat on the sixth floor of this block built in 1958 in Hansaviertel, near the centre of Berlin, is on the market for £131,000 through Nordstadt, 00 49 304 053 9240, www.nordstadt.com

In Tempelhof, this block of 15 flats, with two commercial units on the ground floor, is on sale for £710,000. The agent says it offers an average 7.8% yield. Norenva, 00 49 308 105 6787, www.norenva.com

Read Peter Conradi's Overseas Property Weblog

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers