New EU comparison

Here you have to pay the most for property

Vienna is comparatively cheap for large cities.

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

Austria is an expensive place to live! A new study has shown that the Republic is the most expensive country in the EU. Nowhere else do you have to pay so much to own a square meter.

Owning a home in Austria is still expensive - despite a slight cooling of the real estate market. In a comparison of European countries, Austria takes the top spot for privately financed new-build apartments with an average of 4920 euros per square meter, ahead of Germany and France.

However, at 6023 euros per square meter, Vienna is "relatively affordable" in a comparison of large cities, according to a study by the consulting firm Deloitte.

Italy particularly inexpensive
On average, you have to dig deep into your pockets for a new-build apartment in Austria: While you have to fork out 4920 euros per square meter in this country, in Italy, for example, it is 2118 euros.

Although the average price per square meter is lower in other countries, privately financed new-build apartments in some major cities cost significantly more than in Vienna. New-build prices in other countries must therefore be significantly lower than in Austria, where infrastructure and quality of life ensure higher prices.

Vienna comparatively cheap
While you can expect to pay 6023 euros per square meter in Austria's capital Vienna, you can expect to pay an impressive 14,900 euros per square meter in Paris. But Munich at 10,900 euros and central London at 8018 euros are no bargains either. Amsterdam at 7850 and Barcelona at 6937 euros per square meter are not exactly cheap either.

If Vienna is too expensive for you, you can get away with it more cheaply in Graz. While the price per square meter in Vienna is around 20 percent above the Austrian average, you pay 25 percent less than the average price in Graz. Or you can relocate to our southern neighbor Italy: In Turin, the average price per square meter is 2035 euros, in Rome 3359 euros and in Milan 4214 euros.

Dampening factors in Vienna
However, rents in Vienna are also comparatively affordable: municipal housing and the stock of older buildings with regulated guideline rents push rents down to EUR 10.50 per square meter - although new rentals are significantly more expensive. In Linz it is 11 euros, in Graz 11.60 euros on average.

Tenants in London and Paris can only dream of such prices: at an average of EUR 33.8 and EUR 30.6 respectively, they pay more than three times the rents in Vienna.