Sofie R. Waltl
University of Cambridge & Vienna University of Economics and Business
Alexander Huber
Vienna University of Economics and Business
Abstract
On July 1, 2023, Austria introduced the Bestellerprinzip (“ordering principle”), requiring the party hiring a real estate agent to pay the associated commission. The reform aimed to reduce tenants’ housing costs. Using comprehensive rental listing and administrative data from Vienna, we study the effects of this policy on listing volumes, asking rents, and the use of real estate agents. Using staggered event-study and difference-in-discontinuity designs, we find a sharp decline in rental listings following the reform, driven primarily by reduced agent usage. At the same time, asking rents increased significantly across market segments, with especially strong increases for agent-listed and rent-controlled units. These findings suggest that landlords passed brokerage costs on to tenants and reveals that rent controls are weakly enforced at the advertising stage. Overall, the reform failed to reduce short-run housing costs for new tenants. More broadly, our findings illustrate that reallocating statutory liability in brokerage markets may change pricing and market behavior without materially altering who ultimately bears the economic burden.
Keywords: Rental Market; Ordering Principle; Statutory Incidence; Agents; Volume Effects; Price Effects, Free Riders; Rent Control; Austria
JEL codes: D04, H22, R31, R3
Dissemination
In the press
- Studie zum Bestellerprinzip offenbart negative Effekte (Der Standard, 9/6/2026, Austria)
- Studie: Bestellerprinzip verteuert Wiener Mietwohnungen (Salzburger Nachrichten, 9/6/2026)
- Studie: Wie sich die Maklerkosten-Reform in Wien auf Mieter auswirkt (Kurier, 9/6/2026)
Presentations (incl. scheduled):
[1st Housing Policy Symposium, WU Vienna][4th Workshop on Residential Housing: Balancing Sustainability and Affordability in the Building Sector, University of Zurich][Center for Excellence in Finance and Economic Research (CEFER), Bank of Lithuania][Housing Studies Association Annual Conference 2026, Sheffield][Land Economy Early Career Researchers’ Conference 2026, University of Cambridge][Cambridge Endowment for Research in Finance (CERF) 25th Anniversary Conference, University of Cambridge][6th Workshop on Rent Control and Other Housing Policies, KTH Stockholm]
Sofie R Waltl 