The Own Four Walls - Just a Place to Sleep or a Status Symbol?

For almost all Austrians, their own home is far more than just four walls: it is a personal retreat, a safe haven where one can recharge and rejuvenate. At the same time, for many, it becomes a stage for creativity – and increasingly a status symbol, showing that one has made it in life. 

This is shown by the current trend study from ImmoScout24.at among 1,000 respondents compared to the same study from 2016. “Home is where we recharge our batteries, feel secure, and can make our personality visible. For more and more people, it also becomes a symbol that they have achieved something in life,” says Markus Dejmek, Austria Managing Director of ImmoScout24. 

Women have a stronger emotional attachment to their home

A full 96 percent perceive their home as a place of security and relaxation. Women, in particular, value this: for 77 percent of them, the emotional attachment to their home is “very important,” compared to 64 percent of men. As age increases, the significance rises significantly: in the 50+ generation, more than three-quarters (78 percent) emphasize the importance of their own four walls as a retreat. A look at the federal states shows that especially Burgenlanders (82 percent) and Styrians feel particularly secure at home.

Creativity in one's own four walls plays a major role

The home is not only a retreat but also a playground for personal creativity. More than eight out of ten respondents enjoy designing their apartment or house individually – and enjoy this process. Women express this urge to design particularly strongly (87 percent), but it also plays a major role for men (78 percent).

For more and more Austrians, ownership is a status symbol

In the past ten years, the home has significantly gained weight as a status symbol. While in 2016 only about half saw it as a symbol of personal success, today it is already two-thirds. This thought is particularly pronounced among owners (71 percent) and house residents (69 percent).

In parallel, the desire to design one's own four walls according to the latest living trends is growing: in 2016, only 23 percent stated this, currently it is already 34 percent. The young generation up to 30 years old is particularly enthusiastic (47 percent). With increasing age, this enthusiasm wanes – among those over 50, only about a quarter share this view.

For age group under 30 often just a place to sleep

However, not everyone has such a strong emotional attachment to their home. For one-fifth of respondents, the apartment is primarily one thing: a place to sleep. This is particularly evident among 18 to 29-year-olds (54 percent) and among people who are actively looking for an apartment (57 percent).

About the study

For the ImmoScout24 trend study, Integral Market and Opinion Research surveyed 1,000 Austrians aged 18 to 69 online in January 2025, representative of this target group for ImmoScout24.

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This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.