Real Estate Industry

Buying Real Estate in Austria - Things You Should Consider First

Not only in the capital Vienna, which is almost regularly awarded for its high quality of life, in many regions of Austria nature, culture and safety are felt everywhere in daily life and allow a certain lifestyle. That's why expats often choose to establish residence in Austria, even after their professional activities here have ended.

September 15, 2023 · Sponsored Content

Discrimination on the Housing Market: A Growing Problem in Austria

A recent SORA study conducted on behalf of the Ombud for Equal Treatment highlights a serious problem in Austria's real estate market: racism and discrimination. People with foreign-sounding names or accents have significantly fewer chances of being invited to view an apartment compared to people with typical Austrian names.

September 14, 2023

Real Estate Prices in Austria Increased: Housing Increasingly Less Affordable

The cost of residential real estate in Austria has risen dramatically in recent years, significantly affecting affordability for many households. According to a recent analysis conducted by UniCredit Bank Austria, residential property prices in the euro area have risen faster than incomes. Austria has been particularly affected by this development, where property prices have actually fallen by almost 40 percent compared with incomes.

August 31, 2023

City of Vienna Pushes for Rent Cap

The City of Vienna has called for an Austrian-wide rent price cap since it does not want to implement these regulations on its own. The rent price cap is heavily debated in Austria at this moment because the guideline value for rents might increase too much in April.

March 2, 2023

Austrian National Council Ends Brokerage Fees

A long debate will end on Wednesday as the Austrian national council will end the fee for brokers in the real estate market. Until now, new tenants used to pay the brokerage fee when they moved into their new apartment. The situation has changed now.

February 28, 2023

Austrian Government Considers Rent Cap

In consideration of a looming rent increase in April, the coalition parties Austrian Peoples Party (OEVP) and the Green Party are now also interested in a possible rent cap.

February 6, 2023

The Hike of Real Estate Prices Is Ending

The rise of prices for real estate is slowly coming to an end. The Austrian Real Estate Association (OVI) reported in front of journalists that the prices have hit the ceiling now. However, this is not a drop in prices but just a stabilization of them. The demand for real estate has gone back in the last months.

January 10, 2023

Real Estate in Austria: Highest Annual Increase in Purchase Prices of Houses and Apartments Since Records Began

Prices on the Austrian residential real estate market show a year-on-year price increase of 12.3% for 2021. This is the highest annual increase since the index series began in 2010 and is significantly higher than in previous years.

March 29, 2022

Marina Tower: Completion of the Highest Residential Tower in Vienna

The highest residential tower in Vienna with 140 meters and 41 floors is successfully completed in these days.

February 10, 2022

Demand for Luxury Real Estate in Austria Increased by 12 Percent Due to the Corona Situation

Luxury real estate demand increased by 12 percent in Austria in 2021, according to the Engel & Völkers Group. Read more about the luxury real estate trends in Austria and around the world.

January 17, 2022

New 153-Meter Luxury Tower V22 in Vienna to be Completed by 2025

Construction is currently underway on a new 153-meter luxury tower in Vienna's 22nd district. The project, known as VIENNA TWENTYTWO or V22, is expected to be fully complete by 2025. Learn more about one of Vienna's largest urban development projects and see what it is expected to look like upon completion.

December 7, 2021

Budapest Office Property "BudaPart Gate" Acquired by S-Immo

S Immo AG has acquired the "BudaPart Gate" office building in Hungary's capital, Budapest. Read more about the transaction and BudaPart Gate.

November 15, 2021

Südbahnhotel am Semmering: Former Grand Hotel Has New Owner

The former luxury hotel an hour's drive south of Vienna, which has been little used for decades, has been bought by the foundation of a Viennese entrepreneur and is to be revitalized. The focus is to be on cultural events. However, it will take years for the hotel to be fully developed.

November 5, 2021

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.

September 23, 2021

Real Estate: Property Becoming Increasingly Expensive in Austria

Real Estate prices continue to rise in Austria despite the COVID-19 pandemic. While the property market is becoming increasingly expensive, rents in Vienna remain fairly affordable. Learn the new cost of buying property in Austria and how it compares with the rest of Europe.

August 5, 2021

How Expensive is Rent in Austria?

The rent costs in Austria vary depending on the duration, region and type of rental segment. Find out more about the exact amounts you have to pay across Austria!

May 25, 2021

Weekly Briefing: Vaccination for Everyone in Austria

Austria has ended its drastic measures to contain Covid-19 and re-opened borders as well as restaurants, cultural establishments and alike. Vaccines will soon be available to everyone, even to teenagers. Find out more about this week's developments.

May 20, 2021

Austrians Cannot Afford Own Home

Fewer and fewer Austrians can afford to own their own home. Compared to 70 percent of the European population owning its own home, only 55 percent of Austrians are able to. Read more about the results of a recent housing study below!

May 19, 2021

Austrian Residential Property Market: Prices Continue to Rise

The real estate market in Austria continues to boom. Last year again surpassed the record set the year before, with both sales and the value of properties sold continuing to rise in 2020 compared with 2019. The most expensive district outside Vienna remains Kitzbühel in Tyrol. Housing prices in a five-year comparison: Austria: +26%, Vienna: +21%, Burgenland: +47%, Vorarlberg: +45%, Carinthia: +18%. Find out how the Austrian real estate market works.

April 28, 2021

Two of Austrian Biggest Commercial Real Estate Companies Could Turn to One

The Austrian commercial real estate company Immofinanz AG has decided to make a voluntary public takeover offer for the s Immo AG. The two companies have considered a merger in the past, but the intentions never succeeded. Whether or not the public takeover offer will be going through this time depends on the General Meeting of s Immo and antitrust approvals.

March 18, 2021

Austria's Real Estate: Single-Family Houses Expensive, Offices Cheap

Also as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, living spaces with a garden, a balcony or a terrace see a significant increase in demand, while office spaces and other commercial real estate loses value. Another new aspect of the real estate market in Austria is the rise in demand for single-family houses in the outskirts of bigger cities.

January 5, 2021

Investor Survey: Vienna Among Top 3 Locations for Real Estate Investments

Despite the Covid-19 crisis, Vienna is still one of the most attractive European metropolises for real estate investments. According to a recent survey among investors, London, Berlin and Vienna make up the Top 3 locations in which real estate is highly sought.

October 19, 2020

Student Apartments Are Getting more Expensive in Austria

In 4 out of 6 student cities across Austria, the rent for single apartments which are mostly used by students are increasing. Only in Graz and in Linz the cost of the rent is experiencing a slight decline.

August 27, 2020

Austrian Real Estate Companies with Devaluations in Central and Eastern Europe

Austrian real estate companies CA Immo and s-Immo felt the pressure of the Covid-19 crisis and had to face significant revaluations of their properties in Austria, Germany and Central Eastern Europe.

August 25, 2020

Properties for Development in Austria: Location, Location, Location

Property prices in Austria (average property prices and house price index) continued to show high price dynamics last year. The current average prices for plots, houses and apartments for development can be found below.

May 30, 2020

Financier Ronny Pecik Appointed Chief Executive Officer of Immofinanz

Croatian-Austrian star investor and largest single investor becomes CEO of commercial real estate group Immofinanz AG.

April 23, 2020

Patrick Zehetmayr Appointed Boss of Erste Group's Commercial Real Estate Activities

The Salzburg native, who has almost 30 years of experience in banking and real estate business with Erste Group, was chosen to lead Erste's commercial real estate coverage and financing.

February 19, 2020

Apartment Prices: Austria in Top Third of Europe

A recent study by the consulting firm Deloitte shows that Austrian apartments are still relatively affordable in comparison to other European countries, both in terms of purchase and rent.

August 9, 2019

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

Expansion and Modernization of Hilton Vienna am Stadtpark

The Hilton Vienna Parkview, the third-largest Hilton Hotel in Europe with a total usable space of around 50,000 square metres on a total of fifteen floors, is being developed and comprehensively modernised by the Vienna Invester Group as a developer and Hilton International while it continues to operate. The modernisation work will start at the beginning of 2019 and completion is scheduled for the end of 2020. With the completion of the expansion, the current capacity of 579 rooms is to be expanded to 660 rooms. So far, no information has been provided on the investment sum.

December 14, 2018

Immofinanz Acquires Eight Shopping Centres in Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia

The real estate company Immofinanz has purchased eight retail parks in Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia. The aim is to drive forward the expansion of their retail park brand Stop Shop. The purchase price totals approximately EUR 90.5 million.

November 15, 2018

The AMBASSY for Ambassadors

In Vienna's embassy district, surrounded by over thirty diplomatic missions, an interesting urban residential object is being created in three lifestyle categories, "The Ambassy Parkside Living".

April 23, 2018 · Sponsored Content

Annual Report of the European Commission: How did Austria do?

The European Commission presented its annual reports on 27 EU member states. How did Austria do? Well, it kinda ended up with a black eye. The report took a pop at Vienna for a number of structural shortcomings, including tax burden on labour, pension and healthcare expenditures, house prices, restrictive regulation in the services markets, stagnating productivity and and not enough action on spreading digital technologies. That isn’t a particularly good report card for the previous coalition government of ÖVP und SPÖ. Let’s see if the new coalition government of ÖVP und FPÖ can make the grade the next time around.

March 11, 2018

Erste Group Provides Blackstone with a 5-Year EUR 91 Million Facility

Erste Group provides Blackstone with a 5-year EUR 91 million facility to acquire 12 logistics assets. The 265000 sqm portfolio covers 12 standing logistics investments located in Hungary (5), Romania (4), Poland (2) and Slovakia (1), as well as land reserves.

February 22, 2016

Biggest Viennese Real Estate Deal Ever - Sale of The Mall Closed

Bank Austria - via its subsidiary BAI - closed the sale of "The Mall", the largest and most modern shopping mall in the heart of Vienna. The buyer is a consortium led by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI). UniCredit Bank Austria did not disclose the price, but claims that the transaction is Vienna's largest real estate deal ever.

December 16, 2015

Bank Austria Sells Prominent Property "The Mall" to Morgan Stanley Consortium

UniCredit Bank Austria AG announces that the purchase agreement for the shopping centre The Mall at Wien Mitte was signed with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI), pending approval by the antitrust authorities.

October 22, 2015

Conwert in Talks to Purchase BGP Investment's German Properties

Conwert Immobilien Invest SE currently is in exclusive discussions with BGP Holdings Europe S.à.r.l. with respect to the potential acquisition of the German residential property assets of BGP Investment S.à.r.l., an subsidiary of BGP Holdings Europe S.à.r.l.

July 22, 2015

Niki Lauda Acquires Stakes in Benko's Real Estate Firms

The private foundation of former Formula 1 driver Niki Lauda will acquire 1% of Signa Prime and a 10% stake in Signa Retail.

July 17, 2015

Immofinanz Files Lawsuit Against CA Immo

Immofinanz CEO Eduard Zehetner fulfilled his threat that the company would file a lawsuit against CA Immo and its subsidiary PHI. The complaint was filed with the commercial court in Vienna last Thursday, news magazine ‘profil’ reports in its Monday issue.

April 13, 2015

Athos Real Estate Switched to Vienna Stock Exchange Mid Market

Athos Immobilien AG joined the mid market exchange segment of Vienna Stock Exchange, which is supposed to offer greater flexibility. Apart from Athos Immobilien AG, the mid market currently lists ten further companies.

April 3, 2015

Strabag Builds Two Czech Motorways for € 24 Mln

Strabag a.s., the Czech subsidiary of Austrian-based publicly listed technology group Strabag SE, has been awarded two new motorway contracts in the Czech Republic as part of a consortium with Eurovia CS. The company will build two sections of the D3 motorway (see image) linking Prague with southern Bohemia.

March 9, 2015

Russian Investor Boris Mints to Launch Tender Offer for 10 Pct of CA Immo Shares

O1 Group Limited of Russian investor Boris Mints has made a voluntary partial public takeover offer of 10% of additional CA Immo shares. The offer comprises the purchase of up to 9,735,276 non-par value bearer shares of CA Immo (ISIN AT0000641352), which are admitted to the Official Market on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

November 28, 2014

Strabag Extends Container Port in Mauritius for € 90 Mln

Strabag is extending and strengthening the container harbour at Port Louis, Mauritius, together with its partner Archirodon Construction (Overseas) Co. SA. The project has a volume of about € 90 million (USD 115 million), of which Strabag holds 50 %, and is to be completed in slightly over two years.

November 20, 2014

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

Bank Austria Takes Over Immobilien Holding from Immobilien Privatstiftung

UniCredit Bank Austria AG intends to buy Immobilien Holding GmbH/Group, which has so far been wholly owned by Immobilien Privatstiftung. The purchase agreement has been signed today, subject to consent by the Bank Austria supervisory board and subject to approval by the Austrian competition authorities. The purchase price will not be disclosed.

July 25, 2014

BUWOG Closes Acquisition of DGAG Portfolio

The BUWOG Group has closed its acquisition of approx. 18,000 units in Northwestern Germany after antitrust clearance by the German Cartel Office and completion of further conditions precedent according to schedule.

June 30, 2014

Billionaire Sheikh Al Jaber Sues Immoconsult and the Schwarzenberg Foundation

Due to a failed hotel project in Vienna real estate affiliate of Volksbank, Immoconsult, is facing a lawsuit by the Austrian/Saudi Arabian investor Mohamed Al Jaber.

May 21, 2014 · Updated: May 21, 2014; 18:51

S IMMO AG: Offer to Exchange S IMMO INVEST Participating Certificates to Open Tomorrow

Vienna based real-estate developing Company S Immo AG announces its offer to exchange S IMMO INVEST participating certificates for bonds.

May 20, 2014

Global Real Estate & Economy Talks (GREET) in Vienna

GREET is short for “Global Real Estate & Economy Talks“. It is the platform for commercial property and investments in CEE and SEE, including Russia, Turkey and CIS.

May 19, 2014