Despite a huge increase in demand making it much more difficult to get an apartment in a desirable area, the rent increases on them have only been a few percent per year. And dealing with property management companies is usually a huge pain, but that's nothing new.

It's still pretty easy to find a 50qm in Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, or Neukölln (within the Ringbahn) for under €500-600 warm. If you want or need a larger, fancier flat, or if you want to live in Prenzlberg or Charlottenburg, obviously you can choose to pay more.

The places you mentioned are all the hippest, most desirable neighborhoods though!

If you look into (relatively well connected parts of) e.g. Moabit or Wedding you'll find prices more agreeable.