Austrian Rents Up 4.8% From A Year Ago In First Quarter
Austrian rents averaged €10.50 per square meter in Q1 2026, up 4.8% year over year, as more than one in four renters faced poverty risk.
Housing costs in Austria climbed sharply again in the first quarter. Rent including operating costs averaged €10.50 per square meter nationwide, Statistik Austria reported Thursday.
That was 4.8% more than a year earlier and 1.1% more than in the fourth quarter of 2025. According to the figures, the monthly rent for an average apartment rose from €663.80 to €695.10 compared with the same period a year earlier. Net rents climbed from €502 to €523.90 in the first three months of this year versus the first quarter of 2025, while operating costs rose from €2.50 to €2.60 per square meter.
Costs vary by rental segment, region and tenancy length
Compared with the previous quarter, the rise was mainly driven by higher net rents, "while operating costs increased only marginally," said Statistik Austria Director General Manuela Lenk.
The published data are averages. The actual monthly rent including operating costs depends mainly on the rental segment, region, apartment size and length of tenancy. The figures published by Statistik Austria are extrapolated to 1.8 million primary rental apartments in Austria.
The union-affiliated Momentum Institute is calling for a "more effective rent cap," more affordable housing and stronger protection for tenants. In 2025, 26.2% of people living in rented homes were at risk of poverty, more than one in four renters. "In 2019 the figure was still 20.6%," the institute said Thursday.
According to the institute, the poverty risk for renters after social benefits "reached a new high" in the past year. The numbers do not mean "that the form of housing alone causes poverty," it added, but they show how much "people on low incomes depend on a functioning and affordable rental market."
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