A foothold in one of Europe's most
charming capitals-for $81,000 by Bart Nabrdalik 
| Close to Schönbrunn park, this stylish revamped building has apartments with air-con for under $230,000 but cheaper footholds are not far. Photo courtesy of Immototal. |
If you've fallen in love with Austria-and don't want to leave Vienna-you may be heartened to learn that property can be affordable here, considering it's one
of Europe's most charming capitals. Here's an overview of what's available. For houses with a history, Vienna offers plenty of choice. Since the city was almost untouched by World War II, most of the housing is in the traditional stone or brick tenements and is well-maintained. The population has actually shrunk over the last century, so there are not many new housing estates on the city edge, which is dominated instead by old townhouses with character.
The desirable 18 and 19 Bezirke
The city is divided into 23 numbered districts or Bezirke, 1 being the old core of the city, 2-9 the surrounding inner city suburbs, with 10-23 forming the outer edge of the metropolis on the blue Danube. Real estate is most expensive in the central districts 1-9 where prices currently start at 200,000 euro ($270,000) for studio apartments of up to 400 square feet. For an approximately 700-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment, you can expect to pay over 300,000 euro ($405,000). In the outer districts there are significant price variations between the working class and smart districts. Within the immigrant-dense tenth district, called Favoriten, studios can be found for 60,000 euro ($81,000), while a two-bedroom apartment can be had for 120,000 euro ($162,000). Although Favoriten is much safer than Parisian banlieues or London's Brixton, it's clearly down-market and the cheapest place in the capital. Much more desirable are the well-heeled districts 18 and 19, bordering on the hilly Vienna Woods, where studios average at 150,000 euro ($205,000). Turn-of-the-(20th) century villas of up to 3,000 square feet, with gardens, start at 1 million euro ($1,350,000). The Kurier (www.immomedia.at) and Die Presse are the newspapers that offer the most real estate listings in their Saturday editions. Tomitz & Winkler (tel. +43 676/474-6685; e-mail: office@tw-immobilien.at ; www.tw-immobilien.at), and Immototal (tel. +43 1-886-8888; email: info@immototal.at; website: www.immototal.at/real-estate-vienna-austria/index-en.php) are realtors we recommend. |
