Your Own Viennese Bolt-hole Costs Less Than You Think…

Oh…Vienna!

International Living Postcards--your daily escape

Friday, June 22, 2007
Vienna, Austria

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.

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 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.

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 ($400,000).

[Ed. note: What to make of this information? If only you knew how to be global real estate investor, right? Well, here's how.]

Within the immigrant-dense tenth district, called Favoriten, studios can be found for 60,000 euro ($80,000), while a two-bedroom apartment can be had for 120,000 euro ($160,000). 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 ($200,000). Turn-of-the-(20th) century villas of up to 3,000 square feet, with gardens, start at 1 million euro ($1.3 million).

Bart Nabrdalik
For International Living

P.S. The Kurier (http://www.immomedia.at/) and Die Presse are the newspapers that offer the most real estate listings in their Saturday editions. For real estate agent recommendations, check out the latest issue of The European (it's free).