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The pandemic has had a visible effect on the way Austrians handle money: they avoid carrying cash, spend less money overall, and consume less on credit than before, but more money is left for bad times. stuck. This is evidenced by an IMAS survey that was carried out in June on behalf of Erste Bank und Sparkassen.
38 percent of the 900 respondents said they would feel the crisis financially too, and roughly the same number now spend less. “If you extrapolate that to all of Austria, that’s 2.5 million people,” Erste Bank’s director of private clients, Thomas Schaufler, said when the survey was released on Monday. By contrast, 62 percent said they were not affected at all.
Cash is avoided
When it comes to shopping behavior, there is no clear trend in online shopping: 68 said they would buy as much online as before, 15 percent now buy more online, and 17 percent buy less online than before . However, people no longer like to attack cash: 36 percent now pay less in cash, only five percent more often. 38 percent use contactless payments with debit or credit cards more often than before.
The reluctance is especially evident when it comes to consumption, especially when it comes to new projects. Consumer spending planned before the crisis, such as buying a new car, was still implemented as planned at 57%. The topic of “how do I beautify my house” has gained noticeably in importance, Schaufler explained. “Hardware stores have increased massively, the whole issue of ordering food has increased and the issue of sports equipment has increased.” On the other hand, online travel, restaurant, event and fashion reservations have taken a back seat.
The house is bought anyway
64 percent have not been deterred by the crisis from either building or buying a house. In Austria, loans for new home construction increased 7.2 percent from five billion euros (second quarter 2019) to 5.5 billion euros (second quarter 2020), Schaufler reported. “In the same period, our new mortgage loans increased 9.8 percent to more than € 1 billion.”
On the other hand, the savings rate “went up dramatically,” Schaufler reported. The amount of savings this year is 272 euros per month; in 2010, it was 165 euros that was reserved each month.
But he will not be able to make great leaps in the accumulation of wealth with him: “At this point, at the latest, for many clients it was clear: nothing would happen on the interest side.”
Gold is still in high demand
After all, values are a problem for 34 percent. “Where we also see a rapidly increasing trend is in real estate, which is simply in high demand. And what has also been shown in recent weeks is that gold, as a currency in crisis, has once again been the center of attention ”. Gold does not generate interest or dividends, “but I can’t get that out of my savings account either.”
