28.06.20167
Housing Study 2017: Every other person is looking for a financeable home
- 67% complain about rising housing costs
- Residential housing loans: eight out of ten feature fixed interest rates
- Erste Bank cooperation with Zoomsquare
58% of Austrians cannot afford their own home for lack of money. It is no wonder, because real estate prices are currently soaring. In the period 2006 to 2016, rents have risen by 37%
How does Austria live?
A representative study conducted by IMAS for Erste Bank and Sparkassen shows that Austrians prefer to live in property they own (59%). Almost every tenth person can claim to own their flat (10%), while half own their own house (49%). The leader here is Burgenland: at 70%, this province has the highest density of owner-occupied housing. In Austria, 4 out of 10 persons rent – 9% rent a house and 32% rent a flat. Vienna has the highest ratio of rental flats at 63%.
And how satisfied are Austrians with their housing situation? 7 out of 10 say that they are very satisfied (67%). “Especially older persons over the age of 60 are very satisfied with how they live. Many of them were able to realize their housing dreams with age and now live a home they consider perfect for them,” said Thomas Schaufler, Management Board Member of Erste Bank for Retail.
Despite the high degree of satisfaction with the living situation, 67% of Austrians complain about the rising costs of housing.
How does Austria live?
A representative study conducted by IMAS for Erste Bank and Sparkassen shows that Austrians prefer to live in property they own (59%). Almost every tenth person can claim to own their flat (10%), while half own their own house (49%). The leader here is Burgenland: at 70%, this province has the highest density of owner-occupied housing. In Austria, 4 out of 10 persons rent – 9% rent a house and 32% rent a flat. Vienna has the highest ratio of rental flats at 63%.
And how satisfied are Austrians with their housing situation? 7 out of 10 say that they are very satisfied (67%). “Especially older persons over the age of 60 are very satisfied with how they live. Many of them were able to realize their housing dreams with age and now live a home they consider perfect for them,” said Thomas Schaufler, Management Board Member of Erste Bank for Retail.
Despite the high degree of satisfaction with the living situation, 67% of Austrians complain about the rising costs of housing.
Most popular form of financing: fixed-interest loans
Money is the reason that many people cannot live their dream of their own home. 58% say they cannot afford to own their residence. Age (22%) and a high degree of satisfaction with the current living situation (16%) are reasons given for not searching for housing they can own.
The current low level of interest rates makes a bank loan feasible for many people though. Many Austrians know this: It would conceivable for 6 out of 10 renters who would like to buy their own home to finance up to half of the investment planned (54%). One third is considering raising over half of the amount by taking out a loan (32%).
At present, the low interest rates are creating the ideal conditions for investing in real estate. ”What is decisive is to think long term and consider if the monthly payments will also be affordable 10 to 15 years from now. Therefore, in our opinion, it is inevitable to choose a fixed-interest rate loan,” commented Schaufler. Erste Bank is now offering fixed-interest housing loans for 15 years starting at 2.2% p.a. or for 10 years from 1.875% p.a. ”Eight out of ten of our customers opt for the fixed-income loan variant. Five years ago, it was exactly the opposite,” added Schaufler.
Cooperation with the start-up Zoomsquare
Austrians still prefer to contact their account manager when considering a housing loan (89%). Around half ask their friends and family. The internet is becoming more and more important in this context: 41% use the internet to get an overview of where they can find the right financing offers. The same applies to the search for real estate. Around one-third of Austrians search for real estate on the Internet, and among 18 to 34-year olds, it is even every second person.
“In order to be able to provide a modern, digital option for real estate searches, we have asked the start-up Zoomsquare to join us,” explained Schaufler. The new Zoomsquare real estate search tool on the websites of Erste Bank and Sparkassen help customers search not only all real estate platforms on the web, but also displays the monthly loan instalment for each property. An integrated loan calculator and the possibility of directly arranging an appointment with a bank advisor are fully integrated parts of the search platform. This means that when you find the right property, you can directly and without further clicks view the financing options. “As we serve a large share of our target group in urban areas, we are especially pleased about this cooperation, because here the largest range of real estate offers joins the largest provider of financial services,” explained Zoomsquare founder and CEO Andreas Langegger. Up to now, Zoomsquare has concentrated on a Google-like search technology in order to be able to provide users with all real estate offers at once. The proptech company has succeeded in establishing itself within a short time in Germany, and in both countries, it has achieved market leadership measured by number of offers. The company plans to focus in the future on innovative multichannel communications to help people find the right property.
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[1] Source: Statistik Austria
[2] Source: OeNB