Property Market

Where Are Austria's Properties Most Expensive?

Particularly sought-after locations can be found in urban areas and tourist centres. The two well-known winter sports resorts of Lech am Arlberg and Kitzbühel, with a price per square metre of 1,806 euros and 1,646 euros respectively for building plots, are at the top of the list. In Vienna, the districts of Döbling with 1,416 euros and Währing with 1,301 euros per square metre were in the lead.

June 13, 2019

Signa Buys Karstadt for €1

Austria's Signa Holding takes over struggling German department store chain Karstadt. Signa acquires a 100 per cent stake in Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH from Berggruen Holdings. Berggruen Holdings is going to withdraw from Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH, Karstadt Premium and Karstadt Sports as well as from from each property. The deal ends weeks of speculation over the company's future after the CEO left in July. Rene Benko will pay just €1 for the department store chain. Karstadt operates more than 80 stores across Germany and employs more than 17.000 people.

August 15, 2014

Immofinanz: Net Profit for 2013/14 at EUR 180 Mln, Property Sales Top EUR 1 Bln

Immofinanz Group announces net profit totalling EUR 180.4 million for 2013/14, for a year-on-year increase of 62.8%. Rental income was lower as a result of the extensive, planned property sales. The delayed completion of the GOODZONE shopping center in Moscow prevented the full recovery of this decline during the past year. Rental income amounted to EUR 506.7 million (-7.2%) and results of operations totalled EUR 319.2 million (-19.5%). In like-for-like comparison (i.e. after an adjustment for new acquisitions, completions and sales), rental income was generally stable (-1.3% to EUR 472.7 million). Property sales set a new record at roughly EUR 1 billion.

August 4, 2014

Immofinanz Sells Two Logistics Properties in Poland and the Czech Republic

Immofinanz Group sold two logistics properties – the Bokserska Distribution Park in Warsaw and the Westpoint Distribution Park in Prague. Both transactions took place above book value, with the combined proceeds totalling approx. EUR 33.2 million. The Westpoint Distribution Park was sold to Central Group, a Czech investor, while the Bokserska Distribution Park was sold to “UK & European Investments“, a well-known family office from Great Britain.

July 28, 2014

Austria: Calls for More Competence in Real Estate Management Become Louder

Stock Exchange Guru Alexander Proschofsky and real estate expert Peter Hohlbein are fighting for a seat at Conwert’s administrative board. Proschofsky has been criticizing the strategy of the listed Austrian real estate company.

May 5, 2014

Austrian Households Hold Financial Assets Worth € 500bn

Last year, financial assets grew by 1.4% in nominal terms. New debts grew by 0.5% only.

April 24, 2014

Buwog Soon to be Listed at Three Stock Exchanges

Immofinanz‘ residential real estate affiliate Buwog will celebrate its IPO at the stock exchanges in Frankfurt and Vienna on Monday, April 28 and in Warsaw on Tuesday, April 29.

April 24, 2014

Vienna Real Estate Market Hopelessly Overstrained?

Real estate trustees in Vienna demand a limit to state-subsidized apartments and call for “unrestricted” rents.

April 23, 2014

Romania: Huge Increase in Commercial Real Estate Investments

Investments in commercial real estates rose by 256 percent year-on-year in Romania. However, investments in CEE declined.

April 18, 2014

Discrepancies on Austrian Real Estate Market

Because of the high rents the city of Vienna intends to do away with location premiums. Listed real estate company Conwert announced raising its rents by May 1.

April 18, 2014

Czech Republic: Interest on Mortgage Loans Dropped

Interest ratest on mortgage loans dropped to a record low to 2.93 percent last month.

April 18, 2014

Immofinanz: Ownership Problems in Romania

According to a court decision Immofinanz has took over not legitimately acquired property in Transsylvania.

April 17, 2014

Conwert to Leave Germany?

A consortium of investors is highly interested in the German subsidiary of the Austrian real estate group. The consortium is led by conwert´s former board director Johannes Meran.

April 16, 2014

Massive Dispute at Conwert

The Austrian real estate group faces troubles: representatives of small shareholders want to join the administrative council. Major shareholder Hans Peter Haselsteiner wants to dispatch his own representatives.

April 15, 2014

Vienna: Luxury Real Estate Segment Booms

In contrast to the general trend in Austria, the properties in Vienna become more and more expensive. About 25% of the apartments cost more than € 500,000.

April 15, 2014

Wealthy Investing in Real Estates in Vienna

Vienna is considered a “safe haven” for real estate investments. In particular, luxury homes, such as the Palais Principe for instance, are more than attractive for wealthy investors.

April 4, 2014

Massive Tensions in Vienna´s Residential Property Market

In Austrian capital, rents are increasing unstoppably. Demand is still much bigger than supply.

March 31, 2014

Slovenia: Controversial Property Tax Fails

The Slovenian Constitutional Court has rejected the controversial property tax suggested by the government. This will jeopardize this year’s budget.

March 28, 2014

Slovenia: Chaos around Real Estate Tax Continues

On Thursday the Slovenian National Assembley will pass amendments to the highly debated real estate tax.

March 27, 2014

Austria: No Changes to Land Transfer Tax

There will be no tax hikes in the near future concerning the inheritance of property within families. The draft law of the Finance Ministry also includes the exemption of business successions.

March 24, 2014

Slovenia: Considerably Fewer Building Permits Issued

Almost a quarter fewer building permits were issued in January in Slovenia.

March 21, 2014

Conwert Achieves Turnaround

The Austrian real estate group returns to the profit zone. Last year, net income totaled € 49m.

March 19, 2014

Immofinanz: Substantial Increase in Profits

In the first nine months of 2013/14, the Vienna-listed group registered an increase in net income by 7.1%. For the time being, Immofinanz is not affected by the Crimea crisis.

March 19, 2014

CA Immo: Considerable Drop in Net Income

Financial results 2013: CA Immo achieves record operating result. Balance sheet strengthened, Net Asset Value up 6%.

March 19, 2014

VBAG: Romanian Affiliate Sells Bad Loan Portfolio

The ailing affiliate of Austrian partly nationalized VBAG will sell its non-performing loans on a large scale.

March 18, 2014

Immofinanz: Buwog’s Spin-Off Approved

In an extraordinary shareholder meeting, the spin-off of residential real estate affiliate of Immofinanz was approved by the shareholders.

March 14, 2014

Austrian Real Estate Market Shrinks

In terms of transactions, the Austrian real estate market shrank by 12.5% last year. Nevertheless, the price level has reached new records.

March 6, 2014

Hungarian Property Market Crisis Sharpens

In 2013, the building activity in the residential property sector fell dramatically. A soon recovery is more than unlikely.

March 1, 2014

“Polish Economy at Crossroads“

In an interview with Austrian daily “WirtschaftsBlatt“, Ryszard Petru, chairman of the Society of Policy Economists, sees high chances for the Polish economy; however, only if the country knows how to support innovation.

February 21, 2014

Austria: Real Estate Prices Still Soaring

Barely any other city in Europe saw prices rising as high for residential real estates as Vienna.

February 18, 2014

Real Estate: Vienna´s Office Market Saturated

In contrast to office markets in CESEE (Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe), the Viennese office market has no major projects in the pipeline. The growth potential is rather limited.

February 15, 2014

Austrian Real Estate: Prices to Increase only in Vienna

While the property price level does not stop to increase in Austria´s capital, the rest of Austria faces stagnating property prices.

February 12, 2014

Viennese Real Estate: Roof Space Utilization is the Key

In Austria´s capital, living space is rather limited. In the next few years, shortages in the housing market will sharpen further.

February 5, 2014

Real Estate: Outskirts of Vienna Popular Among East Europeans

More and more well situated East Europeans discover the suburban regions surrounding the Austrian capital. Unlike in Vienna, property prices are going up steadily.

February 4, 2014

Upward Trend in Polish Property Market Continues

In Poland, the property market continues to grow significantly. There are no signs of a cool-down.

February 3, 2014

Real Estate: Why Austrians Prefer Rented Apartments

About 40% of the Austrian households are rented apartments. Most tenants cannot afford becoming homeowners.

February 3, 2014

Considerable Differences Across European Mortgage Markets

According to Fitch Ratings, the performance of European residential mortgage markets as a whole has improved. In Southeastern Europe, by contrast, the recovery will take some more time.

January 23, 2014

Insurance Industry Faces Growing Risks

According to the U.S. rating agency Fitch, insurers in Europe have to accept riskier investments. Ratings may deteriorate, Fitch warned.

January 22, 2014

Prices for Houses in EU Dropped Slightly

1.5 percent decrease of house prices in European Union.

January 22, 2014

Immofinanz Group Expands Further into Slovenia and the Czech Republic

The Austrian real estate group continues to implement its “STOP.SHOP.” retail warehouse chain concept.

January 21, 2014

S Immo Looking Forward to 2014

9.98% price performance and new projects in Berlin. Summary of 2013 and outlook for 2014

January 21, 2014

Romanian Real Estate: Trend Shows Downwards

In 2014, apartment prices in Romania are expected to decrease further. However, the downward trend will decelerate slightly, according to experts.

January 20, 2014

Austria: Real Estate Prices Surging since Financial Crisis

Prices in the Austrian real estate market have been rising dramatically since the financial crisis broke out.

January 20, 2014

Austrian Office Market: Boom is Over

The increase in new construction has reached a new low. According to Bernhard Reikersdorfer (CEO of Remax Austria), the price situation will remain stable.

January 20, 2014

Immofinanz: Good Prospects for 2014

Immofinanz is one of the major real estate enterprises in both Austria and Europe.

January 16, 2014

CESEE: Massive Increase in Real Estate Investments

In Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the total volume of real estate transactions totaled € 10.bn last year. Most transactions were recorded in Russia and Poland.

January 15, 2014

Property Market: Vienna More Attractive than Berlin or Munich

Compared to German metropolises, the Viennese property market has still a significant upside potential. Nevertheless, the office market in Vienna is expected to stagnate in the next few years.

January 15, 2014

Austria: Distribution of Wealth Extremely Unequal

The top one percent of Austrian households possesses more than 50 percent of all investment income.

January 13, 2014

Bulgaria: Small Growth in Real Estate Market

The real estate market in Bulgaria saw a growth of 2.98 percent last year.

January 9, 2014

Shortages in Austrian Real Estate Market

The Austrian real estate association (ÖVI) warns of a low building activity. There is a lack of more than 10,000 new housing units per year, ÖVI argued.

January 8, 2014