“Construction projects are carried out”

The desire to own an apartment increased during the corona crisis, says Klaus Kumpfmüller, General Director of Hypo Upper Austria.

OÖNachrichten: The construction industry is booming despite or because of the corona crisis. Do you also notice this in the financing business?

Klaus Kumpfmüller: Clearly. The growth rates in housing finance remain high. The desire to own an apartment was intensified by the corona crisis. We have seen significant increases in private as well as commercial and non-profit real estate financing compared to 2020. There is also strong demand for our sustainable hypo_blue housing loan, which rewards energy-efficient construction.

Construction costs and prices have risen massively. How are your customers and Hypo doing?

What we are already noticing is that some construction projects in the private sector are being postponed to a later date. So far, however, these are only isolated cases. The majority of the construction projects are still being carried out. The increases in construction costs and property prices can be at least partially offset by the extremely favorable financing conditions.

In view of the very low lending rates, what role do variable offers play compared to fixed rates?

The proportion of fixed-interest loans has been constant at around 70 percent for years. The additional costs compared to a variable loan are currently so low that the arguments clearly speak in favor of a fixed-rate loan. However, we also recommend financing part of it variably in order to have more flexibility with regard to possible repayments.

Investors and banks are groaning under the years of monetary policy with extremely low interest rates. How long will it take?

We currently assume that lending rates will remain low for years to come. We will not see until the end of 2025 that we will get out of negative interest rates at all. However, the low interest rates have now likely been reached, and no further rate declines are to be expected.

How is Hypo Oberösterreich itself doing with real estate?

We own some of the properties in which we are represented with our branches. In addition, we have specialist retail centers in our real estate portfolio across Austria through a subsidiary.

Hypo Oberösterreich is a partner in the Upper Austrian Architecture Prize. What role does architecture play for you personally?

The influence of architecture not only shapes the appearance of town and country, but is also not to be underestimated with regard to sustainability. Hypo Upper Austria has therefore been cooperating with the Architekturforum for many years to support this topic among the general public.

OÖN-Architekturpreis Daidalos

Architecture offices, civil engineering offices and interdisciplinary project teams (e.g. town planners, landscape planners) are invited to submit for the Upper Austrian Daidalos Architecture Prize.

The categories are “Valuable Substance”, “Refined New Buildings” and “Special Prize for Proven Buildings”. The projects in the first two categories must have been completed after January 1, 2017, for the special price between 1990 and 2010.

Up to five photos (no renderings; photo rights must be specified), up to five plans and an explanatory text with a maximum of 1500 characters are permitted for submission.

You can find more information on submitting and uploading documents using the digital form at nachrichten.at/daidalos. The link to the submission itself, which is processed digitally, can also be found here. The deadline for submitting the Daidalos is January 16, 2022.