Sales are falling

Single-family homes were 4 percent cheaper in 2023

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/gopixa)

Single-family homes became four percent cheaper on average in Austria last year - although prices did not fall in all federal states. Houses became more expensive in Carinthia and Salzburg. There is also a large gap in average prices: In Vienna, Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Salzburg, single-family homes cost almost 700,000 euros or more, while in the other five federal states they cost less than 350,000 euros, shows a land register analysis by real estate company Re/Max.

The fall in prices was accompanied by a massive drop in the number of transactions. 16.4 percent fewer sales were entered in the land register, totaling only 8221 properties. This was a third less than in the record year of 2018 (12,689 purchases at the time).

Cheapest in Burgenland, most expensive in Vienna
The cheapest houses were in Burgenland and Lower Austria at an average of EUR 209,770 and EUR 277,113 respectively, while the most expensive were in Tyrol at EUR 795,394 and Vienna at EUR 803,423. As the number of transactions fell in all federal states and prices also declined on average, only €3.28 billion was spent on single-family homes in 2023, compared to around €4.1 billion in 2021 and 2022.

Most expensive single-family home cost 16 million euros
The most expensive single-family home changed hands last year in Vienna-Döbling for 16 million euros, according to an analysis of the land register by Immounited and willhaben, which was also published on Tuesday. A detached house in Vienna-Währing (12.5 million euros) and in Kirchberg in Tyrol (11.6 million euros) were also worth tens of millions to buyers. Two penthouses in Vienna's 1st district (13 million) and in Kitzbühel (11.7 million) were in the same league.

Away from single-family homes, the most expensive land register entry in the previous year was a forest property in Weyer (Upper Austria) with 463,770 square meters at 130 million euros, ahead of an office building in Vienna-Donaustadt (114 million euros) and a building in Vienna's Innere Stadt district (95 million euros).

Looking at all residential properties together, the highest number of transactions by far was in Graz City (2228), followed by Salzburg City (963) and the Vienna district of Donaustadt (929).