Buying has become much more expensive than renting in Switzerland, according to a report by the bank Credit Suisse. The market for owner-occupied homes is currently undergoing a reversal of fortunes, triggered by the spike in mortgage interest rates in 2022, said the bank. Although owners enjoyed unprecedented low mortgage rates for a decade, rates […]
Why Swiss home construction is falling despite higher demand and higher rents
With Swiss rents high and rising it should follow that more would be invested in building new homes. However, that isn’t the case. The newspaper Blick asks experts why. As rents rise landlords should stand to make more from their investments. Many are also quick to assume that higher rents mean landlords are making excessive […]
Switzerland’s rent rate comes close to rising
Four times a year the rate of interest used to set the rents in Switzerland is reviewed. If the aggregate average mortgage rate goes down some renters can request lower rent. If it goes up some landlords can raise rents. This time the rate remained at 1.25%, however it was close to moving to 1.5%. […]
Swiss homeownership rates remain static
In 2021, 1.4 million households in Switzerland owned their home, 36.3% percent of all households, according to statistics published on 23 February 2023. The rate of homeownership in Switzerland has remained fairly stable since 2000. Back then it was 34.6%. After rising to 38.4% in 2016, it has declined gradually to where it is today […]
Risk of cracks rising for houses built on clay
More and more soil is being impacted by drought. Clay soils in particular are affected by drought. These soils expand and contract depending on their water content and often crack when dry. Building on them can be risky and requires a particular structural design. Home owners in parts of France have already been impacted by […]
Swiss rents and property prices up in 2022
A sharp rise in rent in December 2022 (+1.1%) left the average Swiss rent 4.3% higher than at the beginning of 2022, according to the Swiss Real Estate Offer Index, published on 4 January 2023 by SMG Swiss Marketplace Group. This annual jump of 4.3% exceeds the annual CPI increase of 2.8% announced this week. […]
Covid: no exodus to the countryside, says study
On 22 December 2022, Switzerland’s Federal Housing Office (FHO) published a report entitled Housing preferences in the wake of the Covid pandemic, which shows only a modest shift in preferences for living in less densely populated areas. Living and relocation behaviour in Switzerland changed only slightly during the Covid pandemic, said FHO. A rising preference […]
No rise in Switzerland’s rent rate
Every three months the rate of interest used to set the rents in Switzerland is reviewed. If it goes down some renters have the right to request a decrease in rent. If it goes up landlords can push up rents. This time the rate remained at 1.25%, however it looks set to rise next year. […]
Swiss rents set to rise as much as 15 percent
Close to half of renters is Switzerland could face significant increases in rent, estimates Zürich Kantonalbank (ZKB), with rents potentially rising as much as 15% over the next five years, reported the newspaper Blick. The reference mortgage rate used to set rents, which was has been 1.25% since March 2020 could rise as high as […]
Bank predicts home rent rises in Switzerland
According to the bank Raiffeisen, a future rental housing crisis is likely in Switzerland as the home vacancy rate moves below 1% in 2024, reported 20 Minutes. The combined forces of higher construction costs and higher interest rates have reduced the number of homes being built, said the bank. This combined with the continued growth […]