Real Estate in Austria: Purchase Prices of Houses and Apartments Up 10.7 Percent
The Austrian House Price Index - prices on the residential real estate market - continue to rise. With an increase of 10.7% compared to the 1st half of 2020, the price increase for houses and apartments was significantly above the average of recent years. Detailed information on the house price index can be found below.
The Austrian House Price Index rose by 10.7% in the first half 2021. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Frank Schwichtenberg, ECB decisions ECB/2003/4 and ECB/2003/5
The House Price Index (HPI) shows a price increase of 10.7% for the 1st half of 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to Statistics Austria.
In the 1st quarter of 2021, the prices of houses and apartments increased by 9.7% compared to the same quarter of the previous year (+6.2% compared to the previous quarter) and by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter (+4.2% compared to the previous quarter).
"Prices in the residential real estate market continued to pick up in the first half of 2021. With an increase of 10.7% compared to 1H 2021, price growth for houses and apartments was well above the average of 6.1% over the past three years. Favorable credit and continued strong demand caused prices to rise, regardless of whether it was a house or apartment, urban or rural. The increase in the consumer price index, which focuses on consumer goods prices and not on assets, was significantly lower at 1.9% in the same period," says Statistik Austria Director General Tobias Thomas.
Existing housing and new apartments and houses rose sharply in price
Existing condominiums purchased by households for residential purposes recorded the highest price increase of +14.4% compared to H1 2020 (Q1: +12.4%, Q2: +16.4%).
Existing homes were slightly lower at +11.5% (Q1: +12.1%, Q2: +11.0%).
Combined, this resulted in an increase of 13.1% for the existing housing sub-index in H1 2021 (Q1: +12.3%, Q2: +14.0%).
The "purchase of new housing" subindex, which tracks the price development of new apartments and prefabricated houses, increased by 4.3% in H1 2021 compared with the same period in 2020 (Q1: +3.1%, Q2: +5.4%).
Prices for owner-occupied housing up 4.4%
The Owner Occupied Housing (OOH) price index is an extension to the house price index.
It includes expenses associated with the acquisition and ownership of housing, such as fees of acquisition, insurance, and costs of repairs and renovations, in addition to the acquisition of new and existing housing.
It increased by 4.4% in H1 2021 (Q1: +3.4%, Q2: +5.5%) and had an index level of 143.67 points in Q2 2021.
The sub-index for the prices of the acquisition of housing increased by 5.9%, here the rising construction costs in the item "Self-built housing and major renovations" (Q1: +3.7%, Q2: +7.2%) are noticeable.
Expenditures for the maintenance of owner-occupied housing increased by 2.2% in H1 2021 (Q1: +1.8%, Q2: +2.5%).