Countries · Austria
What to check in Austria before you sign.
The biggest avoidable loss here is not the purchase price but the rent: tens of thousands of pre-war tenancies sit above the legal ceiling, and almost nobody does the arithmetic.
What costs the most money in Austria
Tenants in Austria overpaid by €168 million in 2025 alone, because their rent sat above the legal ceiling.
Source: Arbeiterkammer, berichtet vom ORF Wien am 23.06.2026
Purchase costs
9 to 11%
of the purchase price, on top of the price in the listing.
- Real estate transfer tax3,5 %
- Land register entry, ownership1,1 %
- Land register entry, mortgage1,2 %
- Contract drafting, lawyer or notary1 to 3% plus VAT
- Agent's commission, above €48,448.523% plus VAT
Source: oesterreich.gv.at and the Federal Ministry of Finance, 2026. On a purchase, buyer and seller each pay up to 3 percent commission; the rule that whoever instructs pays does not apply here. Only for residential lettings has the party instructing the agent paid since 1 July 2023.
The trap for tenants
Those who had their pre-war tenancy checked got back €6,700 on average. In all, the Chamber of Labour recovered €1.34 million across some 200 completed cases. Many tenants never open a case despite their suspicion, for fear that a fixed-term contract will not be renewed.
Source: AK-Bilanz „Zwei Jahre Altbau-Mietencheck“, 25.02.2026
Energy and the duty to renovate
The energy certificate has to be quoted in the listing itself with the heating demand figure, produced before the contract is signed and handed over afterwards. A breach costs up to €1,450, and it can hit the agent too. There is no nationwide duty to renovate; that is set by the nine provincial building codes.
Source: Energieausweis-Vorlage-Gesetz 2012, § 9
Certificate validity: 10 years
What to watch for in Austria in particular
Surcharges of 50 to 200 percent are added on top of the reference rent, with no obligation to justify them. Despite the statutory discount of 25 percent, fixed-term contracts still cost €160 a month more on average than open-ended ones. In Vienna that adds up to over €115 million a year.
Official maps in Austria
7 map layers lie directly over your property.
Not as an average for the district, but at your exact address, with a legend and a visible source. Every layer can be switched on separately.
Check it yourself
The official bodies in Austria.
Scan my Home checks against these sources. You can call up every one of them yourself, and that is exactly the point: a figure you cannot verify is not a figure, it is a claim.
Value & land value
BEV Grundstücksdatenbank & Kataster
Official plot data, boundaries, area
Immobilienpreisspiegel (WKO)
Average price per square metre by district and property type
Ownership & charges
Owner, liens, easements, building-lease land
Energy
Landes-Energieausweisdatenbank (ZEUS)
Registered energy certificate, heating demand and validity
Environment & natural hazards
Flood, storm, earthquake and other natural hazards at the location
Road, rail and aircraft noise at the location
Building & zoning
Flächenwidmung & Gefahrenzonenplan (Land/Gemeinde)
Zoning, building class, planned zoning changes, hazard zones
Market & transactions
Kaufpreissammlung / IMMOunited
Purchase prices actually achieved for comparable properties
The market in Austria
Around 91,000 property transactions worth €35.58 billion, of which €14.28 billion in the residential segment.
Source: ZT datenforum eGen, ImmoMarktAnalyse Jahresbericht 2025
A real dossier from this country
See what the analysis found on an actual listing in Austria — every figure with its source.
Open the example dossierOther countries