What makes an apartment attractive when the daily commute to the office disappears? A new study involving the Complexity Science Hub shows a clear trend: Since the start of the pandemic, apartments suitable for working from home have become significantly more sought-after in Vienna—bringing long-term implications for urban planning and housing development.
To understand how the importance of different housing features changed during and after the pandemic, the research team led by Fabian Braesemann, CSH Associate Faculty member, analyzed over 120,000 rental listings on the Austrian platform “Willhaben” from 2018 and 2022. The study, in collaboration with Agenda Austria and the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), was recently published in PLOS One.
KEY FINDINGS
Diverging trends across city districts:
Compared to the pre-pandemic period, rents increased more sharply in Vienna’s outer districts, where apartments are more likely to have outdoor spaces such as terraces or balconies.
Catch-up effect in previously lower-priced outer districts:
Rents in the inner districts (1st to 9th district) rose on average by just under 10%, while in the outer districts (10th to 12th, 14th to 17th, and 20th to 23rd districts) they increased by more than 15%. In other words, rents in these outer districts grew 50% more than in the inner-city areas. The biggest price increases were in districts 10, 11, 15, 20, 21 and 23, while the rise was lower in the already more expensive districts 13, 18 and 19.
Implication: The outer districts, which were comparatively lower-priced and less attractive before the pandemic, have since seen increased demand.
Growing importance of home-office-friendly features:
Traditional price drivers like central location and access to public transportation have become relatively less important. In contrast, features associated with working from home—such as additional rooms, outdoor spaces (terraces or balconies), and multiple bathrooms—have gained relevance. Parking spaces and other elements supporting private mobility have also grown in importance.
Implications for urban planning:
These changing housing preferences have long-term consequences for urban planning in Vienna. In today’s hybrid work environment, tenants who spend part of their workweek at home need adequate space to accommodate remote work. To counter further gentrification and segregation, municipal housing must also be converted to meet modern working requirements.
“Our study shows that analyzing large datasets from online platforms allows us to detect relevant market trends and the impact of external shocks—such as a pandemic—even in systems that usually evolve slowly, like the housing market,” says Braesemann, who also lectures at the University of Oxford. “This enables us to identify important shifts in real time.”
THE HOUSING MARKET AS A COMPLEX SYSTEM
The study also underscores the social and economic value of researching complex systems—a core mission of the Complexity Science Hub.
“Rental prices emerge dynamically from the interactions of countless actors and factors—ranging from the individual decisions of tenants and landlords to local housing supply and demand, as well as institutional networks, infrastructure, legal frameworks, and economic trends,” explains Stefan Thurner, President of the Complexity Science Hub.
“If we can use algorithms to extract evolving housing preferences from rental data, we can begin to rethink urban planning—shifting from reactive policies toward active management of the housing market as a complex system,” adds Braesemann.
ADAPTING THE CITY PROACTIVELY
The implications of shifting housing demand go beyond the housing market itself. If more people work from home instead of commuting to the city center, local businesses may lose potential customers—leading, for example, to a decline in high-street retail. “To prevent this, cities should develop offerings that draw people downtown—regardless of their daily commute,” Braesemann says.
Urban mobility is also affected. “As more people move away from traditional commuting routes, cities should create sustainable transportation options, retail opportunities, and recreational spaces in outer districts as well,” he adds. “The analysis of digital data not only advances scientific understanding—it also provides actionable insights for shaping a sustainable and inclusive urban future that serves the entire population.”
About the study
The study “How have urban housing preferences developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? A case study of Vienna” by F. Braesemann, J. Kluge, and H. Lorenz was published in PLOS ONE (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0322629).
