Guide · Prices in Linz
Property prices in Linz: what living here really costs
Linz has a reputation as the affordable one of the three big provincial capitals. The official purchase contracts say otherwise: a flat in Linz costs on average € 3,640 per square metre, around 27 per cent more than in Graz. Only against Salzburg at € 5,025 is Linz clearly cheaper. Here are the figures that were actually paid, rather than the ones in the listings.
Purchase and land prices: STATISTICS AUSTRIA, average property prices (2025 and 2025 respectively). These are evaluated purchase contracts, not asking prices.
Purchase prices: what was actually paid
| District | Flat | up to 1960 | from 1991 | Building land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Linzall 16 districts | € 3,640 | € 2,845 | € 3,974 | € 537 |
| Linz-LandLeonding, Traun, Ansfelden … | € 2,870 | € 2,300 | € 3,614 | € 304 |
| Urfahr-UmgebungOttensheim, Puchenau, Gramastetten … | € 3,070 | € 2,449 | € 3,425 | € 152 |
The figures are averages from real purchase contracts, broken down by year of construction. The gap between old stock and new build is considerable: in the city, roughly € 1,129 per square metre lies between a flat built up to 1960 and one from 1991 onwards.
Around the city the picture depends on what you look at. For flats, Linz-Land and Urfahr-Umgebung sit close together and both clearly below the city. For building land the gap is wide: the city costs a good 1.77 times Linz-Land.
The official price index does not break the city into districts: the "City of Linz" row covers all sixteen together. If you want the differences within the city, the neighbourhood atlas shows them through location, noise, greenery and accessibility.
With building land, the action is outside the city
A square metre of building land costs € 537 in the city of Linz and on average € 304 in the district of Linz-Land. The district average is misleading, though: it averages across the whole district, and the municipalities close to the city sit well above it.
The extreme case is Leonding: more was paid there per square metre of building land than in the city of Linz itself. That is not an arithmetic error but a different mix: the Linz figure includes the industrial districts, while in Leonding almost only land for detached houses near the city changes hands. The figures for all sixteen surrounding municipalities are listed individually on the land page.
Buying land in Linz: prices per municipality →
Rents: the two figures both called the reference value
With rents, two completely different figures get mixed up in Upper Austria, and to make matters worse they sit close together. Confusing them costs money, so here they are side by side:
- Tenancy law: € 7.30 per m²
- The reference value under the Reference Value Act, in force since 1 April 2026. It is the legal ceiling for old-building flats under the full application of the Tenancy Act (building permit before 1 July 1953, more than two flats in the building). Additions and deductions for location and fittings are allowed. Upper Austria sits in the lower middle: Salzburg is at € 9.31, Styria € 9.30, Vienna € 6.74.
- Housing benefit: € 7.00 or € 8.00 per m²
- The province's rent threshold for housing benefit in a private rented flat. It is not a ceiling for the landlord but the limit up to which the province pays anything at all: above it there is no housing benefit. € 7.00 applies to agreements up to 31 Dec 2022, € 8.00 to new lettings from 1 Jan 2023.
Both figures concern the net rent, excluding service charges, heating and VAT. What you actually transfer is regularly a third higher. And the two are independent: a rent can be lawful under tenancy law and still sit above the subsidy threshold.
Housing benefit Upper Austria: calculator and limits →
What really drives the price of a location in Linz
The district average is a rough answer. Within the city quite different things decide, and for those we have maps and figures per address:
- Noise
- A quiet side street and an arterial road lie 200 metres and several price brackets apart. The official noise map shows it per address.
- Building land
- What the ground costs decides more about a new build than the fittings do. Calculated per municipality from purchase contracts.
- Accessibility
- The real journey time to the centre by tram, bike, car or on foot, calculated from the timetable instead of as the crow flies.
- Subsidy
- The province’s housing benefit lowers the real burden, but only up to a rent threshold. The calculator shows what is left.
Every location in Linz with its real data: Linz neighbourhood atlas →
Frequently asked questions about prices in Linz
What does a flat cost to buy in Linz?
On average around € 3,640 per square metre, calculated from real purchase contracts (2025). Broken down by year of construction: around € 2,845 for old stock up to 1960 and around € 3,974 for flats from 1991 onwards. An asking price regularly sits above that.
Is Linz more expensive than Graz?
For owner-occupied flats yes, and clearly so: € 3,640 against € 2,874 per square metre, roughly 27 per cent more. That surprises many people, because Graz is the bigger student city and has a reputation for being expensive. Against Salzburg at € 5,025, Linz is clearly cheaper.
Are these asking prices or prices actually paid?
Actually paid. The figures come from the official price index of Statistics Austria, which summarises evaluated purchase contracts (2025). A listing regularly sits above them: asking and closing are two different things, and we deliberately do not mix them.
Why are there no prices per city district?
Because officially they do not exist. The price index treats Linz as one political district, and a price per district derived from individual listings would be a figure with the appearance of precision. What we show per district instead: noise, heat, greenery, accessibility and footfall, all from official sources and per 250-metre cell.
How much cheaper is the surrounding area?
For flats, Linz-Land costs around € 2,870 per square metre against € 3,640 in the city, with Urfahr-Umgebung in between at € 3,070. For building land the difference is larger, but the district average misleads: the municipalities near the city sit well above it, and Leonding even above the city.
What is the difference between € 7.30 and € 8.00?
€ 7.30 is the tenancy-law reference value for Upper Austria: the legal ceiling for old-building flats under the full application of the Tenancy Act, since 1 April 2026. € 8.00 is the housing benefit rent threshold for new lettings: up to that net rent the province pays, above it nothing. One figure limits what the landlord may charge, the other what the province will still carry. That they happen to sit close together makes the mix-up easy and expensive.
What comes on top of the purchase price?
Roughly 10 per cent in extra costs: 3.5 per cent land transfer tax, 1.1 per cent land register entry, plus the contract and, where an agent is involved, their commission. The land register fee exemption for first-time buyers expired on 30 June 2026.
Read on
- Buying land in Linz: prices per municipality →
- Housing benefit Upper Austria: calculator and limits →
- Linz noise map: values for your address →
- Student housing in Linz: halls, flatshares or your own flat →
- Commercial property in Linz →
Last checked: 26 August 2026. Purchase and land prices STATISTICS AUSTRIA (2025 and 2025), reference value under the Reference Value Act from 1 April 2026, rent thresholds from the housing benefit guidelines of the province of Upper Austria. Orientation, not legal or investment advice.