Switzerland has one of the lowest rates of home ownership. Most residents live in rented accommodation. Across the whole country, only 36.2% of homes were owned by their occupants in 2020, according to data published this week by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO). However, home ownership rates vary significantly depending on the canton. In popular […]
Switzerland’s large number of homeless
According to a recent report by the Federal Housing Office (OFL) there are an estimated 2,200 homeless residents in Switzerland and another 8,000 at risk of losing their homes. The authors of the report collected information from 616 municipalities across 22 cantons to compile the data. 616 municipalities covers around 28% of Switzerland’s total. Reasons […]
Long term mortgage rates rising in Switzerland
Over the last few years mortgage interest rates have been exceptionally low in Switzerland. However, since mid-December 2021 they have risen and are at levels last seen in 2018. According to recent data collected the newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft, Swiss mortgage interest rates are 0.25 percentage points higher than a month earlier. 10-year guide rates […]
No weakening expected in Swiss house prices
The Swiss housing market continues to rise with no signs of weakening, reported RTS this week. According to the real estate platform immoscout24, the average price per m2 for a family home in Switzerland has risen from CHF 6,700 to CHF 7,200 over the last 12 months, a rise of 7%. Apartment prices have risen […]
Building construction costs rise sharply in Switzerland
As inflation rises around the world, Switzerland feels the heat too. This week the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) published data on construction, which show an unusually large jump in costs. The costs of construction leapt 2.7% between April and October 2021, according to the data, leaving prices 4.1% higher than a year earlier. The construction […]
Number of vacant homes in Switzerland drops for first time in 12 years
Finding a place to live in Switzerland is difficult. Home availability is low and prices are high. On 13 September 2021, the Federal Statistical Office published data showing a sharp drop in the number of vacant homes since 2020, a development that will make home hunting harder. On 1 June 2021, there were 71,365 vacant […]
Federal Council supports elimination of imputed rents for Swiss home owners
In Switzerland, home owners must add a fictional or imputed rent to their taxable income, which is calculated based on the home’s floor area. Proposals to eliminate imputed rent have been around for sometime. This week, the Federal Council came out in support of a plan to eliminate it put forward earlier by a commission […]
Risk of parts of Swiss real estate market overheating, says UBS
The latest UBS Swiss Real Estate Bubble Index published this week shows several regions at risk of overheating property prices. The regions highlighted as exposed include Basel, Lausanne, Vevey, parts of the Vaud Alps, Lugano, Nidwalden, Luzern, Zug and the Zurich region, all parts of Switzerland where there is plenty of high paid work. Lausanne, […]
Immigrants pay higher rent than native Swiss
Those with a migration background in Switzerland are on average financially worse off than those without, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). And those with a migration background pay on average 10% more per square metre of living space than the rest of the population. In Switzerland, around 20% of those with […]
Renters charged fees to view apartments in Geneva
Some agencies in Geneva are exploiting the city’s tight property market by charging people money just to view apartments, according to a report by RTS. A practice described as parasitic by ASLOCA, a rental association, involves an agency contacting those who have placed adverts for vacant apartments and offering them their services. The agency promises […]
