Buying a property in Austria is not easy or cheap, and it has become more expensive in 2022, with higher prices also in the early months of 2023, according to a REMAX survey.

Apartment prices are averaging approximately €264,000 in 2022, a 9 percent increase from the year before and 36 percent more expensive in a five-year comparison, according to the report. The most costly province is Vorarlberg, followed by Vienna, which overtook Tyrol, THE Austrian broker association Remax said.

However, this will likely change over the year as demand decreases and supply increases noticeably. 

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“In addition to rising interest rates and tighter lending guidelines, Corona aftershocks, high inflation, and global flashpoints have also contributed to the general uncertainty, but the market has turned around year-on-year, with demand down significantly and supply up noticeably”, said Bernhard Reikersdorfer, managing director of REMAX Austria.

He added: “If the general conditions on the market do not change, prices are expected to trend downwards in 2023. Therefore, buying a condominium for owner-occupancy, but also as a form of investment and for pension provision, remains very interesting.”

What is the current real estate market in Austria?

The typical apartment on the sales market was 68.6 square metres, similar to the flats put for sale in 2021.

The largest apartments were in Upper Austria (74.9 m²), Lower Austria (71.7 m²), Vorarlberg (71.5 m²) and Tyrol (69.9 m²), and the smallest in Vienna (65.3 m²), Styria (67.0 m²) and Salzburg (67.1 m²).

Every fourth apartment registered in Austria cost less than €160,193, as the RE/MAX analysis of all registrations in 2022 shows. Still, housing prices went up in 2022, with increases of up to 9.5 percent for more expensive properties.

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Prices per square metre averaged €4,156 in Austria, with the highest prices in Vienna (€5,437), Vorarlberg (€5,065), and Salzburg (€4,634) and the lowest in Burgenland (€2,245) and Styria (€2,769).

What’s the situation in Vienna?

Despite the declining volume, Vienna’s total transaction value in 2022 grew for the third time in a row: from €5.17 billion to €5.41 billion. This means that the Vienna residential market accounts for 36.5 percent of the federal total. In 2021, it was 34.7 percent. 

There have also been significant price increases, as apartment prices in Vienna went up 7.4 percent per year on average over the past ten years. 

A quarter of all apartments traded in Vienna in 2022 cost less than €208,000. This upper limit to the entry-level price range has risen by 11.8 percent in a year.

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Since 2017, the areas of traded apartments in Vienna have been increasing. In 2022, it came to 65.3 m². This is the largest area since 2017; before that, larger living areas were also the rule in some cases.

In Vienna and the Tyrol, prices per square metre have risen by a total of +45.2% and 45.3% in the last five years, earlier in the Tyrol and later in Vienna. In the Austrian capital, the increases are the highest in the country. 

The cheapest Viennese districts are Hernals, Meidling and Simmering, while apartments in the Inner City are the most expensive, with entry prices at € 1.82 million. Other neighbourhoods also have higher price tags: one in four buyers of an apartment in the districts of Neubau, Döbling, Wieden and Hietzing invested more than €600,000.

According to REMAX experts, the statistically lowest square metre prices were in Brigittenau and Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus.