Despite a slight cooling off in the market, home ownership remains expensive. As a recent Deloitte analysis shows, Austria recorded the highest real estate prices of the participating countries for privately financed new apartments in a European comparison – closely followed by Germany and France. City apartments, on the other hand, remain relatively affordable in comparison. And rents in Austria’s cities are also comparatively inexpensive. With a price per square meter of 10.50 euros, the capital Vienna is even cheaper than Linz and Graz. In 2023, Austrians had to pay an average of 4,920 euros per square meter for a privately financed new apartment. In a European comparison of the countries participating in the study, the Alpine republic is the leader in real estate prices, but closely followed by neighboring Germany with a price per square meter of 4,700 euros. France is in third place with 4,538 euros.”Prices for existing houses and apartments have fallen in recent months, but for new buildings they have remained rather stable. This is particularly true for sustainably constructed properties, especially as the factor of climate efficiency and the associated low energy consumption are becoming increasingly important,” explains Gabriele Etzl, partner and real estate expert at Deloitte Legal. “Home ownership remains expensive in Austria: For many people, the dream of owning their own home is becoming much more difficult to realize than in recent years, also due to high interest rates and the difficulty of accessing loans due to the KIM regulation and the decline in residential construction activity. This development must be counteracted in the long term.” Israel was also taken into account in the analysis: At 5,439 euros per square meter, the country in the Middle East is the most expensive place in the Deloitte ranking. In a European country comparison, Austria leads the ranking of the countries participating in the study, but a city comparison shows a different picture: Paris is the most expensive city at 14,900 euros per square meter – this means that people there have to pay more than three times the national average for a new apartment. With 10,900 euros, Munich is in second place and with 8,018 euros per square metre, London city centre is in third place. The most expensive city in Austria is Vienna – but with an average price per square metre of 6,023 euros, it is well behind the European leaders. “Although property prices in Vienna are more than 20 percent above the Austrian average, compared to other countries, our capital is still relatively cheap,” says Gabriele Etzl. “It is even cheaper in Graz. Apartment prices there are around 25 percent below the average.” When it comes to rents, Vienna continues to live up to its reputation as the most tenant-friendly city – despite noticeable price increases. While in London or Paris you had to expect a price per square metre of over 30 euros during the period under review, in Vienna it was only 10.50 euros on average. Other Austrian cities cannot keep up with these rent prices either. In Linz, for example, people paid 11.00 euros and in Graz 11.60 euros per square meter. “There are many reasons for the lower average rents in the capital. On the one hand, they lie in the deep roots of municipal housing and the old buildings typical of Vienna with regulated guideline rents. However, for new rentals, the rents are significantly higher than this average,” concludes Gabriele Etzl.
