Investing in Austria
Apartment houses
The 5 main reasons for buying an apartment house:
Austrians themselves consider buying property a very reliable investment. For them it is a good way to protect their capital. No matter what happens to gold, currency or oil, property in Vienna never loses value.
Apartment buildings offer their owners steady and more-or-less continuous rental income. The purchase of apartment buildings is a long-term investment, measured in decades. Of course, such properties are often bought with financing. Through leverage and appreciation of the property, the return on equity can be up to 10% p.a., for example.
In all probability the urban population in Vienna will exceed the 2 million mark in the next few years and continue to grow beyond that. All newcomers to Vienna need housing. There is also a natural limit to the space available for extensive housing construction in the city. This means that the demand for housing, including rental housing, will also increase the value of land.
Apartment buildings are not only a reliable way of protecting and preserving capital, but are also a source of income.
Many apartment buildings have an empty upper floor. These can be renovated and converted into several penthouse apartments which can then be sold at a higher price than apartments on the lower floors.
SOME FACTS:
Currently, the population of Vienna is almost 1.9 million (about 2.6 million including suburbs), which makes up about 25% of the total population of Austria. In all probability the city will exceed the 2 million inhabitants mark in the next few years. Vienna’s current housing stock comprises about 1 million apartments. Almost two thirds of them (633,000) are occupied by tenants (this is almost half of all rented housing in Austria). As the population grows, the demand for rental housing is increasing correspondingly.
Under these circumstances, multi-family houses (apartment buildings) with flats and apartments for rent represent a large, dynamic market. There are about 15,000 classic apartment buildings in Vienna. This is about 90% of all apartment buildings in Austria. Every year about 500-600 changes of ownership of apartment buildings are registered in the capital city.
The market for apartment buildings is constantly increasing. According to various expert estimates, the annual volume of business dealings with apartment buildings averaged € 1 – 1.4 billion over the past three years. In 2019, the largest volume of business to date was recorded at € 2,23 billion, or 516 apartment houses.