Austrian Property Market Runs out of Steam

In the first half year, investments in the Austrian real estate market totalled € 8.1bn. As a result, the trade volume was down by 2.4%. In total, 43,246 sales were counted. This corresponds to a decrease of 5% against the first half year of 2011. At the moment, the number of properties is constant. However, the price curve begins to flatten, experts say.

Vienna is still Austria´s most important property location. About one third of all sales are registered in Austria´s capital. In Austria, the average price for apartments reached € 140,230 in 2011 (+2.5%). Last year, 14,414 objects were sold. The price increase still was 7.5% last year and 4.5% in 2010.

Although the Viennese office property market is still relatively stable, new letting in the segment is slow. According to CBRE, new rentals fell once more from around 275,000 m² in 2010 to some 260,000 m² in 2011. In 2011 the construction of new office space in Vienna increased slightly to 180,000 m² from 165,000 m² in 2010. According to Bank Austri, this figure is expected to rise to 240,000 m² in 2012.

Upgrades, conversions and extensions will account for almost half of the office space that comes onto the Viennese market this year. Roughly 40 percent of Austrian sales space is located in Vienna and the surrounding area, Bank Austria´s property experts stated.