Real estate in Vienna

Vienna: Search and find your property

Real estate in Vienna is in high demand, as the capital is popular with young and old alike. The search for real estate is therefore usually tedious, regardless of whether you are looking to rent or buy. Anyone who owns a property in Vienna can therefore count themselves very lucky and enjoy this wonderful city.

Living in Vienna: pure quality of life

Austria's capital, Vienna, has regularly been voted the city with the best quality of life in the world for years. Anyone who has lived in Vienna knows that this rating is entirely justified.

The city has almost two million inhabitants and is divided into 23 districts. All districts have excellent public transport links, with streetcars, bus lines, night buses, express trains, other trains and subway lines that run at high frequency.

Unemployment in Vienna is low. There are countless companies and many international corporations based in Vienna. Thanks to the Vienna-Schwechat airport, which can be reached from the city center in under 30 minutes, long-distance travel from Vienna is also possible without any problems.

The Viennese lifestyle should not go unmentioned: the cultural offerings are incredible and range from the city's free "cultural summer" to exclusive performances at the State Opera.

Apart from housing costs, the cost of living in Vienna is low. For example, an annual public transport ticket costs only 365 euros. A lunch menu in a good restaurant is usually available for 10 to 15 euros. If you want to go bargain hunting, it is best to visit the Brunnenmarkt - Vienna's largest street market - or the Saturday flea market at the Naschmarkt.

Real estate market in Vienna

The Viennese real estate market is shaped by the Tenancy Act (MRG). Put simply, it stipulates that rents in old buildings cannot be freely agreed, but are subject to defined maximum values. The situation is different for new buildings, which are therefore typically rented out at a higher price.

Buying an apartment in Vienna usually means having to pay over 4,000 euros per square meter. This is not a shocking figure compared to other major cities such as Paris or London. Condominiums in Vienna are often purchased for investment purposes.

Apartment buildings (always called "Zinshäuser" in Vienna) change hands less frequently. Detached houses and villas are mainly found on the outskirts of the city. The so-called "cottage" in Vienna and Döbling is particularly exclusive.

Allotment garden estates are also a noteworthy part of the real estate market in Vienna. These popular settlements may only be partially inhabited all year round and are located in a wide variety of districts - not only on the outskirts of the city, but also near the Prater in the 2nd district, for example.

Well over half of the Viennese live in a property that has received some form of state subsidy - an incredible number in such a large city. That is why we are now going to take a closer look at subsidized housing.

Social housing in Vienna

Vienna is internationally regarded as a model for social housing. Several concepts contribute to this:

• Municipal housing: These are built by the municipality of Vienna and rented out very cheaply.
• SMART apartments: These are rented out cheaply and are intended to help young people in particular to find affordable housing.
• Subsidized new builds: Investors receive subsidized loans or tax benefits, but have to charge a lower rent for a certain period of time.
• Cooperative housing: Cooperatives rent out apartments cheaply and then often offer them for sale to existing tenants at attractive prices.
• Public Private Partnership: When large development projects are realized, the City of Vienna imposes conditions, e.g. the construction of a public kindergarten or the provision of some apartments for the needy.

The subsidized apartments are not explicitly aimed at people on low incomes. It is still possible to move into a subsidized property with an annual salary of up to around 60,000 euros. This ensures a good social mix and prevents the creation of ghettos.

The exact requirements that must be met depend on the type of property in question. This must be checked carefully in advance so that no unnecessary time is lost in the search for a subsidized apartment in Vienna.

How much does a property cost in Vienna?

Real estate prices in Vienna are high by Austrian standards. Compared to other European capitals, however, housing costs are relative. Especially because the tenancy law (especially for apartments in old buildings) is very tenant-friendly and there are so many subsidized apartments.

Purchase prices in Vienna

The purchase prices for apartments in Vienna within the Gürtel, i.e. in districts 2 to 9, are around 7,000 to 8,000 euros per square meter. Outside the Gürtel, prices vary greatly. In districts such as Favoriten and Simmering, ready-to-occupy apartments start at around EUR 4,000 per square meter. In upscale Währing and Döbling, on the other hand, average prices are between 8,000 and 10,000 euros per square meter.

The most expensive district in Vienna is the 1st district, with an average price of over 18,000 euros per square meter.

Rents in Vienna

Rents for subsidized apartments in Vienna are around 10 euros per square meter. Rents for older buildings are strictly regulated by tenancy law. Depending on surcharges and discounts, rents therefore range from 12 euros in Simmering to 22 euros in the first district. Overall, the average for old buildings is around 15 euros per square meter.

New-build apartments are more expensive to rent, ranging between 17 and 20 euros in all districts. Occasionally there are higher values, especially for luxury projects in villa or central locations.

Finding a property in Vienna

The high quality of life attracts people from all over the world to Vienna. Hundreds of thousands of tourists, thousands of students and, of course, many Austrians who move to Vienna for professional reasons, for example.

Due to the high demand, it is generally necessary to be decisive when looking for accommodation in Vienna. Cheap properties, whether for rent or for sale, are usually on the market for a very short time. Therefore, think carefully in advance about what is important to you and look for new properties regularly.

In the case of rental apartments in Vienna, the "Bestellerprinzip" applies, which means that the landlord typically has to pay the commission. However, buying a property in Vienna can be expensive. This is because the ancillary purchase costs amount to around 10 percent of the purchase price on average.

In addition to state fees, which cannot be avoided, this is also due to the estate agent's commission. This amounts to a gross 3.6 percent of the purchase price. However, you do not have to pay this amount if you find a commission-free property in Vienna. This means you need a smaller loan or can invest the savings directly in new furniture.

All properties advertised with us are commission-free - so you can potentially save thousands of euros.