Austria · Housing Market Analysis

Buying vs Renting
An Information Visualization Project by Group 6


Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions most people will make in their lives. For many young adults in Austria, however, this decision has become increasingly difficult due to rising property prices, changing interest rates, and different income levels. While there are online mortgage calculators available, they often assume that users already know how much they can borrow, where they want to buy a property, or even whether they would qualify for a loan in the first place.

Our project aims to make this process easier by creating an interactive website that helps users better understand their financial situation when it comes to buying a home in Austria. Using average income data for different social demographics together with Austrian housing and property data, the website allows users to explore where buying or renting is the more financially realistic option. It also gives an estimate of whether they would likely qualify for a bank loan to finance a property.

The website is not meant to provide financial advice, but rather to help users learn more about the factors that influence home ownership. Through interactive visualizations and real-world data, users can explore how income, housing costs, affordability, and long-term wealth development are connected and how different financial situations can affect the decision to buy or rent.

Explore the Map & Calculator

Interactive Map & Break-even Calculator
When does buying actually pay off?

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What does this calculator do?

Buying a home is one of the largest financial decisions a household makes. This tool compares the financial consequences of buying and renting — objectively, without lifestyle preferences.

Using regional purchase and rental prices from Austrian federal states and districts, it estimates how your wealth develops over the next 30 years, based on your personal inputs and regional averages.

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How to use it

pin_drop Select the Federal States or Districts layer and click a region on the map.

house Review or adjust your household details.
Property prices and rent are automatically filled from regional data.

trending_up Run the calculation and compare renting vs. buying over time.
Find your personal break-even point.

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Color:
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(1) Personal Info
(2) Purchase Info
(3) Rental Info
Manual:

Region Statistics

Click on any region within Austria to view details.

Break-Even Chart — 30-Year Wealth / Net Worth Projection



Let's compare the Wealth development in detail!



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Select a region first

Click on any region in the interactive map above to load regional data and unlock the wealth distribution analysis.

Wealth Analysis

Annual Wealth Distribution

Simulate how your wealth is allocated at any point during the 30-year period.

Net Worth Direct Comparison Margin: 0 €
Renting — Wealth Allocation Net Worth: 0 €
Buying — Wealth Allocation Net Worth: 0 €
Select a district first ...
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Renting

Select a region first ...
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Buying

Select a region first ...

How would your monthly expenses look like depending on your housing tenure?

This chart compares the total monthly financial burden and financial breakdowns across different housing tenures in Austria.

Get a realistic overview and price expectation based on the average housing costs for different tenure types.

How to use: Use the checkboxes to isolate specific housing types. Hover over individual bar segments to view detailed splits. Use the slider / input box to dynamically scale the y-axis, as well as to get an overview of the estimated yearly cost of the housing type.

Source: STATISTIK AUSTRIA, EU-SILC 2025.

Compare Housing Types

Cost Estimator (Based on Average €/m²)

Estimated Yearly Costs
€328.00
80 m² × 4.1 €/m²


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What we learned so far:

pin_drop You now know where in Austria you want to live.

house You know the Renting costs.

euro And how much your avg. Housing Costs could be



Let's explore how likely it is that you can afford a loan and how other Households in Austria live.

It's the Final page!

After all these texts, statistics, data and visualizations, you made it to the end of our website.

We hope you had a fun and informative time using our website to explore:

- the possibilities of buying or renting properties in the Austrian housing market,
- checking out your possible living and maintenance costs
- or seeing how likely it would be to get a loan from a bank.

Renting vs. Buying is a big question. It will fundamentally change your life.
Therefore, you should take your time comparing not only the financial aspects, which you can explore on our website, but your social factors and future plans as well.

Thank you for using our Website:
Lisa Wachter
Petko Stoyanov
Bernhard Schmid

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Data Sources from: Statistik Austria, EU-SILC (2025) and Willhaben:

pin_drop Geographical Data Sources

Geographic map data
Average rent-price per district, 2025
Avg House/Apartment prices

house Financial and Social Housing Data

General overview over the avg. financial and social living Situation of Households across Austria
Avg household income