Home ownership rate falling: Only a third of the Swiss population lives in their own home – reasons

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The Swiss rental housing market is a shark tank: ads only stay up for a few hours, then disappear again because so many interested parties have already registered. The views were invaded by hundreds of apartment hunters. You also need vitamin B for a successful apartment application: People with connections to property management will receive the tender.

More and more people are affected by this situation. The joke that “Switzerland is a country of renters” not only endures, but is even more apt: Homeownership rates in Switzerland are falling. While 38.4 percent of the population lived in their own home in 2015, in 2021 this rate was still 36.3 percent. This is shown in the latest property monitoring report from real estate consultant Wüest Partner.

Former Eastern Bloc countries with the highest property prices

Switzerland is once again a special case: the homeownership rate is significantly higher than here in most other countries. The leaders in hosting are Romania, Hungary and Poland. This is no coincidence: after the collapse of the Soviet Union, state-owned real estate was sold to the public at discounted prices.

In addition, home ownership provides retirement opportunities in many places and is therefore supported by the state. And: Tenants in Switzerland have a wide range of high-quality apartments at competitive prices. Even if rising rent prices are unfair in the eyes of many apartment hunters. But the reality is that home ownership prices have risen much more sharply than rental properties over the last 20 years.

The discrepancy between desire and reality is growing

Prices are the most important factor in why Switzerland is and will remain a country of renters. For most households, moving from a rented apartment to a house is simply not economical. 79 percent of the Swiss population does not have the financial means to buy their own home. Depending on the region, prices may be affordable for a much smaller portion of the population; for example Zurich, Zug or Basel.

However, the decline in ownership in recent years is not due to homeowners selling their properties and moving into rental properties. But this is because fewer homes are coming to the market than new households are being created.

The majority of tenants want to live in their own home. According to Wüest Partner’s research, 46 percent of renting households between the ages of 30-50 are considering purchasing a house. But for most it remains just a matter of mind games. You have no choice but to continue diving into the shark tank of the rental housing market as you search for a new home.

Source :Blick