Buying and selling real estate in Austria

Austria, due to its well-known quality of life, has been a popular place to buy real estate (property), especially apartments and business premises, for many years. Some of the factors that influence Austria to be chosen for purchasing real estate (apartments, houses, business premises, land for construction) are:

Austria is one of the leading countries in terms of economic indicators, and from a political point of view, due to its neutrality, one of the safest countries in Europe.

As a geographical and cultural bridge between Eastern and Western Europe, Austria and Austrian companies have ideal conditions for development.

Austria is a world leader in providing a social system that protects its citizens. This system guarantees constant solvency, so it is rare for people to be unable to pay the rent for an apartment or house, even if they are currently unemployed.

Austria still does not have a property tax, which is common in many other European countries.

A system with many advantages for students.

Austria, especially Vienna, is known for its safety and very low crime rate.

A country rich in history and natural beauty. An average of 140 million tourist overnight stays per year have been recorded over the last 10 years.

Apartment prices in Austria vary widely from state to state. According to an analysis by Kronen Zeitung, the average cost of a 70-square-meter apartment in the most expensive states is
Tyrol: €484,940
Vorarlberg: €475,765
Vienna: €461,078.

In contrast, prices in the more affordable states are significantly lower:
Styria: €301,816
Burgenland: €273,636

These differences are also reflected in the average price per square meter for apartments in 2023, according to Statista:
Vorarlberg: €5,000/m²
Vienna: €5,550/m²
Burgenland: €1,753/m²

These figures highlight the significant regional differences in Austrian real estate prices. Western states such as Tyrol and Vorarlberg, as well as the capital city of Vienna, have much higher prices than eastern states such as Burgenland.

In 2025 in Vienna, the demand for rental apartments increased compared to ownership apartments. Rental prices increased accordingly.

Take into account that the price of the apartment, in addition to the geographical location (federal province where it is located), is affected by the traffic infrastructure, i.e. the property's connection to the city center, the age of the building, the object's exposure to noise, light (Austria, with the exception of the province of Burgenlad, is a country with relatively few sunny days, so this aspect is very important), building quality, etc. Some factors that influence housing prices are described below.

The status in terms of type of residence is very important. Below are several types of residency and their effect on obtaining a permit to purchase real estate:Permanent Residence The process of purchasing real estate is relatively simple if the property is to be used as a permanent residence. This means that the apartment or house will be used for residential purposes for most of the year and not for seasonal use.Registration of Secondary Residence If you want to buy your own house or apartment in Austria as a foreigner, it must be registered as a secondary residence. The regulations are stricter in tourist areas. In general, foreigners can face a lot of difficulties in registering a secondary residence, but the stricter measures do not mean that it is impossible for foreigners. You should expect that the whole process will take a little longer and that it is advisable to have legal and advisory assistance due to the legal procedures. Why is it important to register a secondary residence? It is important because otherwise you will be required to register your house, apartment or vacation home as your permanent (primary) residence, and you will be required to live at that address for at least 6 months of the year. Legal authorities or municipalities may prohibit the use of a property as a primary residence if it is rarely used during the year. This is defined as a criminal offense and entails measures that can cause significant damage. Therefore, it is important for those who already own a house or vacation home to register it as a secondary residence.

If you are looking through ads or through friends, you need to be quick because good offers go fast. It is advisable to activate the automatic agents present on each portal, which will inform you in real time of new offers, and of course to regularly check the messages from the platform in your e-mail. When a good offer appears, do not hesitate! You are not the only one searching. Schedule a meeting with the owner as soon as possible, and make the most of the meeting by preparing a list of questions beforehand, such as: who are the neighbors, what has been done / improved in the apartment, does the apartment have all the necessary ownership documents, etc.?

Request a description and floor plan from the owner of the apartment (or from the broker who is looking for a property for you). Check the exact square footage of the property at the land registry.

Check if there is enough parking in the area or if the apartment has a garage. In some parts of the city, finding a parking space has become a "Mission Impossible" and takes up a lot of time and nerves for both apartment owners and their guests. The price of apartments without adequate parking is usually lower.

In parts of the city that are predominantly inhabited by foreigners or people with an immigrant background, such as the 15th, 16th, 17th or 10th districts of Vienna, prices are significantly lower than in the central parts of the city. The price of an apartment is also affected by the transportation infrastructure, i.e. the connection of the property to the center, the age of the building, the exposure of the building to city noise and light (for example, Vienna is a city with few sunny days, so this aspect is also very important).

Check the cash reserve of the building in which you are buying an apartment or business premises. If it is small and the building is old, there is a real possibility that you will find yourself in a situation where you have to pay significant amounts for repairs to the elevator, roof, etc. The city authorities can at any time order the building's tenants to make repairs if the building (from the outside or inside) violates basic safety or infrastructure principles in any way.

Ask for a cadastral certificate confirming the ownership of the building, the land and any mortgages.

The contract signed by all the apartment owners in a building (Gemeinschaftsvertrag) contains important rights and obligations, such as: who provides services that are important to everyone (snow removal, building maintenance, etc.), how the costs of repairs are shared, how voting is done in the community council, etc.

If everything is to your liking, you will agree on the price and sign a pre-contract that provides security for both you and the person from whom you are buying the property. According to this contract, you pay a few percent of the value of the apartment in advance, and in return the owner withdraws his advertisement and guarantees that the apartment is yours when you pay the rest of the amount agreed in the pre-contract.

The notary will draw up the contract for you, check the ownership of the apartment and send a request to the Magistrate 35 for approval of the purchase as a foreign citizen. The notary also controls the account to which the bank will release the money and will not transfer the money to the seller until you officially become the owner of the property, i.e. when the court has approved the contract and you are registered as the owner of the property in the land register.

Once you have found a suitable property (apartment, house, business premises, land), you enter a legal and financial procedure with clear and often strict laws. If you are already familiar with the procedure or have legal assistance in Austria, you can expect everything to be resolved within 2 months.

From the moment you find a property, it can take several months to complete the transaction. Legal support is also very important in this part of the process, providing you with security both in terms of time and transaction guarantees. This is done by the so-called “Treuhand".

The procedure for registering the ownership rights takes at least 2 months. If you want to start arranging the property before then, insist that the seller of the property give you the keys immediately after the money transaction.