The number of construction savers declined in the previous year

Savings deposits in Austrian banks rose sharply in 2023, but deposits in the construction savings sector and the number of construction savers declined. Savings deposits among private households rose by 9.8 percent to 194 billion euros. Construction savings deposits decreased by 2.6 percent to 14.3 billion euros, according to data published today by the National Bank (OeNB). Only 34% of Austrians have recently taken into construction savings, the lowest level since the survey began in 1997.

“One of the reasons for the different developments is likely to be the small difference in interest rates between the interest rates offered by building societies for long-term deposits and the interest rates offered by other Austrian banks for shorter periods,” OeNB wrote. “The capital-weighted average interest rate on new short-term deposits with a lock-in period of up to one year for all banks in December 2023 was 3.3 percent and just below that at 3.27 percent for a lock-in period of more than two years.” “Years.”

However, at 3.17%, savings deposits for new buildings, which have a six-year commitment period, were lower than the Austrian average for all banks. However, for building societies, the annual state building savings bonus, which has been at a minimum of 1.5 per cent since 2012, must be added.

The downward trend in building savings deposits is also reflected in the number of savings building contracts in the saving stage. At the end of the previous year this was 2,967,984. This represents a 5.5% decrease compared to the end of 2022 and, according to the Oesterreichischer National Bank (OeNB), the lowest value since data collection began in 1997.