Financing difficult

A quarter fewer apartments sold

For many Austrians, the dream of owning their own home is thwarted by financing hurdles.

(Bild: thinkstockphotos.de)

The dream of owning your own home or at least your own apartment - it remains a dream for many Upper Austrians at the moment. And this also has an impact on those who want to sell real estate: They are finding it harder to get rid of them. The real estate market in Upper Austria has slumped by around 25 percent.

More supply, less demand: over a quarter fewer apartments were sold in Upper Austria in the first half of the year than in the same period last year. This means that Upper Austria remains in third place behind Vienna and Styria. Specifically, the decline amounted to 28.3 percent, or from 2738 to just 1963 apartments sold. Although the average price has risen by four euros per apartment compared to the first half of 2023, according to Bernhard Reikersdorfer, Managing Director of RE/MAX Austria.

Condominiums have become cheaper. Even nominally in 2023; this year, the price increase was below inflation.

Bernhard Reikersdorfer, RE/MAX Austria

More inquiries, fewer sales
The real estate expert attributes this to the significant increase in supply over the past year and a half. Although sales in our region have fallen, there are around 20 percent more inquiries for condominiums than in the same period in 2023. The surprisingly large decline in our province is also deceptive: Linz accounts for two thirds of the decline. There were a whopping 914 bookings here in the previous year due to a major project - an increase of 31.1% compared to 2022. In contrast, there were large increases in sales in Rohrbach (from 23 to 61) and Freistadt, where 47 units were sold, 17 more than in the first half of 2023.

Vöcklabruck ahead of Linz
For the first time since 2021, the most expensive apartment purchase was no longer in Linz, but in the district of Vöcklabruck - where the sales price rose by nine percent to around EUR 261,000. Prices rose the most in Rohrbach (up 55.4 percent) and Schärding (24.5 percent). In Linz, the average price this year was just under EUR 230,000.