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HEALTH

Where have housing prices risen in Austria during the pandemic?

Despite the economic impact of the pandemic, housing costs have risen dramatically across Austria - particularly for houses with gardens. Here’s what you need to know.

Published: 23 February 2021 12:23 CET
Updated: 16 March 2021 13:54 CET
Where have housing prices risen in Austria during the pandemic?
Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP

The economic impact of the pandemic has been as significant as it has been long. It is now the biggest economic crisis since the Second World War. 

One sector however has seen a dramatic spike in value – housing. 

Buying and renting have both increased in cost significantly in 2020 compared with 2019. 

READ MORE: Is it better to buy or to rent property in Austria? 

A study published by Austrian real estate platform ImmoScout24 showed a considerable rise in demand and cost for housing across the country. 

House prices rose by an average of 11.6 percent in Austria in 2020 – with demand increasing by 49 percent. 

The demand for apartments also rose by around 7.4 percent, while rents rose by five percent. 

Where has the demand for houses risen the most in Austria? 

The impact of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has meant that homes with gardens are more popular than ever. 

“Although our current trend study shows that Austrians are basically satisfied with their living situation, the dream of owning their own house has become firmly entrenched for many in 2020,” said ImmoScout managing director Markus Dejmek. 

The demand has been greatest in the extended suburbs of Vienna and Graz, where urban residents have been looking to get a little more green space. 

The increase in house demand has also been felt in a number of other Austrian states. 

According to ImmoScout, demand has been particularly strong for second homes or holiday homes. 

The highest increase was in Carinthia, where demand grew by approximately 76 percent. 

In Lower Austria (63 percent), Styria (59 percent) and Burgenland (55 percent) demand also grew dramatically. 

Where have apartment prices risen the most in Austria? 

Housing and apartment prices also saw a spike across the country. 

Austria’s west saw the greatest increase in house prices, with apartment prices increasing by 18.2 percent in Tyrol, 13.2 percent in Salzburg and 12.1 percent in Vorarlberg. 

Apartments also became more expensive in 2020. Burgenland saw a cost increase of 17.1 percent for apartments, while prices rose in Styria (12.4 percent) and Lower Austria (10.2 percent). 

While costs in Vienna rose less sharply, this was largely because prices are already high in the capital. 

The price of apartments rose in Vienna by 7.4 percent to €5,340 per square metre, while the price for houses rose by 4.9 percent to €4,990 per square metre. 

“The expensive west with Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Salzburg again increased in price significantly in 2020. But the belt around Vienna also recorded considerable price increases in 2020,” Dejmek said. 

Rents also on the rise

Across Austria, rents rose on average 14 euros per square metre in 2020 – an increase of five percent on prices from 2019. 

Rents increased sharply in Vienna – by €15.8 per square metre (4.8 percent). 

Rents also rose in the west of the country. In Tyrol, there was an increase of €16 per square metre (5.1 percent). 

Tyrol remains the most expensive state in Austria to rent a property, while Vienna is the second most expensive. 

In Vorarlberg, there was an increase of 4.1 percent – or €15 per square metre, making it the third most expensive state for rentals in Austria. 

Rents declined in only one Austrian state – Burgenland, where they fell by 2.4 percent or €9.30 per square metre. 

Burgenland remains the cheapest state in Austria when it comes to rental prices, followed by Lower Austria where the costs are €11.20 per square metre (a 0.5 percent increase on 2019 prices). 

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HEALTH

Patients in Vienna face long waits for specialist health appointments

Waiting times to get appointments with health specialists in Vienna have increased significantly, a new study has revealed.

Published: 17 May 2024 09:56 CEST
Patients in Vienna face long waits for specialist health appointments

Accessing essential healthcare within a reasonable timeframe is becoming increasingly difficult for Viennese residents.

The Vienna Medical Association presented their new study this week which shows that waiting times for appointments with health specialists have increased significantly in recent years.

The study, which involved contacting over 850 doctors’ practices via so-called “mystery calls,” revealed that child and adolescent psychiatry currently had the longest waiting times in the city.

Patients can expect to wait an average of 90 days for an appointment.

Other specialisations where patients have to wait long to receive help include radiology (57 days), neurology (45 days), ophthalmology (44 days), pulmonology (36 days), internal medicine (33 days), and dermatology (28 days).

The waiting time for seeing a gynaecologist has increased fourfold since 2012, with patients now waiting an average of 32 days.

READ MORE: Why are there fewer public sector doctors in Austria?

No new patients accepted

In certain specialist areas, there is no capacity to accommodate new patients. The situation where no new patients are accepted occurs particularly often in paediatric practices, where more than half of the public healthcare practices have put a freeze on admissions.

In child and adolescent psychiatry, 40 percent do not accept new patients, and among gynaecologists, it is almost a third (30 percent). Family doctors also struggle with welcoming new patients, and many of their practices have already reached full capacity.

The Medical Association calls for immediate action, urging the health insurance sector to become more attractive and receive better funding. This could involve measures to incentivise doctors to work within the public system, potentially reducing wait times and improving patient access to care.

During the study presentation, Johannes Steinhart, president of the association, described the increased waiting times as the result of neglect within the established health insurance sector. He said he believes that the public health system is massively endangered.

Naghme Kamaleyan-Schmied, chairwoman of the Curia of the resident doctors in the association, pointed out that while the population of the federal capital has grown by 16 percent since 2012, the number of public doctors has fallen by 12 percent in the same period.

The association now wants to make the public healthcare system more attractive to doctors, which could cut down waiting times and make it easier for patients to receive care. The association’s demands for this to happen include increasing flexibility in contract options, integrating health and social professions in individual practices, reducing bureaucracy, and improving fees.

ÖGK, Österreichische Gesundheitskasse, Austria’s largest public healthcare fund, is currently creating 100 additional public health positions, with almost two-thirds of the positions already having applicants, as well as planning for another 100 positions. They also aim to create a central telemedicine service and a platform for making appointments by phone and online, which is meant to reduce waiting times and improve access to care.

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