Overview of Vienna’s Districts
1., Inner City
In Vienna’s inner city, a number of high profile properties have recently been placed on the market. The most important drivers for this activity include the sale of properties attributable to the insolvent Signa Group and the strategic reorientation of prominent investors.
EHL Top Tip: The new Neue Markt Conversion into a pedestrian zone and completion of the underground garage below the Neue Markt have transformed the area into an absolute inner city hot spot. A flourishing gastronomy zone and new shops create a potential for higher rents on the retail and office floors, while the already high-quality residential space has become even more attractive – and is definitely interesting for investments when properties here become available.
The 1st District has traditionally had a special status on the Vienna investment property market. Transactions are not as yield driven compared to less popular areas and, since the investors are normally financially strong, properties rarely appear on the market in times of declining prices because the owners can usually “sit out” these phases. 2024 and the first months of 2025 were atypical because several larger proper- ties were up for sale as a result of the Signa Group bankruptcy. The property at Renngasse 2, which houses the Austrian Constitutional Court and the Bank Austria Kunstforum, was sold for a reported 200 million Euros to a foundation headed by the Upper Austrian industrialist Josef Rainer. The sale of the much larger Park Hyatt Am Hof is still in progress. Strategic reorientation is behind the sale of two properties by Ermione (from the Wlaschek family portfolio) in the Bognergasse and Jasomirgottgasse. The largest transaction in 2024 involved the sale of a property at Kärntner Ring 3 by the long-time investor Zürich Versicherung for 127 million Euros. Market activity in the 1st District is slow at the present time.
The price level is much too high for the business model currently preferred by investors, i.e. acquire, refurbish, expand and sell as condominiums. Despite the decline in square metre prices – which are roughly 15 per cent lower than in 2022 – yields are still fairly low. The prime yields of nearly 1.5 per cent are clearly below the average for the rest of the city, and notable debt financing is impossible to obtain with indicators like these. The buyer side is dominated by Austrian family offices and private foundations. Investments are based on a very high share of equity and yields play a less important role, while personal interests and prefer- ences as well as long-term protection for assets have higher priority. The coming years are expected to see a shift towards portfolio reduction by traditional institu- tional investors like insurance companies to free up the reserves frequently accu- mulated over decades. This vacancy will be filled by high wealth private investors who are looking for trophy asses at the country’s most prominent addresses.
Inner City
Investment prop. prices6,000 to 10,000 EUR/sqm
Prime Yields
1.5 to 2.5 %
Monthly rents (net) in EUR/sqm
Apartments
Ø n. a.
Offices
16.00 to 28.50
Retail space A locations
200 to 800
Retail space B locations
15 to 95
30
Investment Property Report
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