The property market collapsed in 2023
Austria Apartments prices fall. Significantly fewer apartments were sold across Austria in the previous year. Prices also fell overall, in Vienna by 5.6 percent.
After years of boom, the wind has changed on the housing market due to higher interest rates and stricter lending rules. This is also reflected in figures from the estate agent network Remax, which are based on land register data from Immo United.
According to the figures, a total of 36,700 apartments were sold across the country in 2023. This is 13,800 fewer than in 2022 and 19,500 fewer than in the record year of 2021. This puts us back at the same level as ten years ago, according to a press release.
Naturally, the transaction volume has also slumped with the sales, falling by a third from 14.8 billion euros in 2022 to 10.4 billion euros. Although the average prices for condominiums in Tyrol, Salzburg and Styria have risen slightly once again. They have fallen in the other federal states, and in Vienna by as much as 5.6 percent.
Incidentally, apartment prices in the federal capital have fallen the most in the first district, namely by more than 18 percent, but it remains the most expensive district.
Across Austria, apartment prices have fallen by 3.5 percent. The average apartment in Austria now costs EUR 254,700, almost EUR 10,000 less than in 2022. 2023 was also the first year since 2009 in which prices per square meter in Vienna fell, with a square meter costing EUR 5,172 in 2023.
However, real estate professionals are now noticing an increase in demand on the market again. Which is why it is assumed that the market has bottomed out – also due to falling inflation and interest rates. And the measures taken by the government – such as the abolition of some fees on purchases. DER STANDARD reported it would also contribute to the housing market picking up again.
However, a new real estate boom is likely to be a long way off: “We do not expect sales figures to reach the level of the record years 2021 or 2022 in the near future,” says Remax Austria CEO Bernhard Reikersdorfer. (red, 10.4.2024)
Translated from the German;
Source: Der Standard
Photo: Kofler