125 Years of Property Prices in Vienna
“Is living in Vienna still affordable?” was the question posed at the WU matters. WU talks. discussion on November 12, 2025, at the WU campus.
Vienna is widely regarded to have a stable and socially balanced housing market with a strong public component and a high percentage of renters vs. homeowners: around 80% of households in Vienna live in rented accommodation.
In contrast to other cities, Vienna remained relatively stable in terms of price development even after 2007, i.e., at the onset of the economic crisis. Can Vienna’s apparent crisis-proof market be generalized to the whole of Austria? In addition, the population agrees: housing is becoming increasingly expensive. So what is the truth?
How have real estate prices actually developed since 1900?
Markus Lampe, Full Professor, Chair of the Department of Socioeconomics, WU Vienna, Kilian Rieder, Principal Economist, and Karin Wagner, Senior Principal, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, laid the groundwork for the subsequent high-level discussion by presenting their research project and its findings.
Karin Wagner, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, presents part of the methodological design.
Based on thousands of purchase agreements from archives and “Viennese cellars,” as WU Prof. Markus Lampe emphasized, the tireless research team reconstructed price curves back to the late 1860s. By linking this data to the TU/OeNB real estate price index, a database covering the period from 1868 to 1990 was created for the city of Vienna.
Conclusion: exceptions prove the rule?
Over the long term, moderate price increases of 1.2% per year were observed, but these were marked by sharp price declines during crises.
What role did regulation and access to property play in this?
Regulation, subsidies, and municipal housing projects continue to have a price-dampening effect, but their relative importance is declining. What can be said with certainty is that Vienna continues to have a low proportion of owner-occupied properties and a high proportion of rental properties on the housing market.
The opinions of the panelists regarding regulations on the housing market differed greatly.
After the presentations, representatives from various institutions addressed a range of questions, such as what price increases mean for financial market stability and whether Vienna is still considered affordable and attractive internationally.
Opinions differed greatly, especially on the subject of financial market stability, but see for yourself:
Discussion:
- Wolfgang Amann, Managing Partner, IIBW
- Gerlinde Gutheil-Knopp-Kirchwald, Housing Industry Specialist, Austrian Federation of Limited-Profit Housing Associations (GBV)
- Gregor Puscher, Managing Director, wohnfonds_wien
- Stefan Schmitz, Head of the Macroprudential Supervision Group, Financial Stability and Macroprudential Supervision Division, Oesterreichische Nationalbank
- Hans Jörg Ulreich, Spokesman of the Property Developers Group in the Association of Real Estate and Wealth Management Trustees, Austrian Economic Chamber, and Managing Partner, Ulreich Bauträger GmbH
Moderation by:
- Stefanie Peer, Head of the Research Institute for Spatial and Real Estate Economics, WU Vienna
About the event:
- Topic: 125 Years of Property Prices in Vienna. Is living in Vienna still affordable?
- Lecture/discussion series: WU matters. WU talks.
- Date: November 12, 2025, 6–7:30 pm
- Location: WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Library & Learning Center, Ceremonial Hall 1
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