A report published on 4 May 2023 cites land scarcity as the main reason behind Switzerland’s housing shortage. In the 20 years between 2001 and 2021 Switzerland’s population grew from 7.3 to 8.7 million, a rise of 1.4 million residents or 19%. And with annual net immigration of around 50,000, building enough homes to house […]
In 10 years 40% of Swiss workers will regularly work from home, predicts research
According to a report published this week, 40% of employees in Switzerland are predicted to regularly work from home within the next 10 years. In 2001, less than 1% of Switzerland’s employees did more than half of their work from home. By 2019, the same figure was 25%. Then Covid-19 struck. During the first lockdown […]
Home ownership now more expensive than renting in Switzerland
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. […]
