Plus 8.6 percent in two years: rent demands are through the roof

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Anyone who regularly looks at apartments for rent advertised on real estate portals will be amazed: asking rents across Switzerland have increased by 4.4 percent in one year, as a current evaluation of the Swiss Property Offer Index shows. It was created by real estate consultancy firm Iazi and online real estate platform ImmoScout24.

Online price tags are 5.7 percent higher in the Greater Zurich area. This means that apartments that were advertised for 1,700 francs just twelve months ago are now offered for 1,800 francs per month. “The significant increase in the Zurich area corresponds to the development in which the housing supply in Switzerland’s most important economic center is unable to meet demand,” says Martin Waeber (52), General Manager of Real Estate at SMG Swiss Market Group.

Outliers in Ticino and Central Switzerland

The trend is likely to continue. In December alone, rents in the greater Zurich area rose sharply by 1.9 percent. The Ticino region also recorded surprisingly significant growth, with an increase of 1.6 percent in December. “The increase in Ticino is due to the tendency for higher-priced rental properties to be advertised in December, for example during the initial letting of larger new buildings,” explains Waeber.

Such fluctuations will be more likely to occur due to relatively low advertising volume. “A look at the changes over the last twelve months shows that asking rents in Ticino remain almost unchanged at +0.5 percent,” explains the real estate expert.

Another outlier is the Central Switzerland region with -0.6 percent. “Here too the short-term change does not correspond to the general trend: in Central Switzerland there is a strong increase of +5.4 percent during the year, which can be attributed especially to the high demand for housing in the Zug region. , but also Lucerne,” says Waeber.

Plus 8.6 percent in two years

For tenants, it is particularly unpleasant to look at the last two years: Asking rents across the country increased by 8.6 percent during this period. While the price of an apartment was 1,700 francs at the beginning of 2022, the price of a similar property today is advertised as 1,850 francs. At the same time, real wages fell by an average of 2.2 percent.

Prices for single-family homes have apparently peaked, at least temporarily. Asking prices are falling; It last increased by 0.4 percent in December and almost doubled for the whole of 2023. But you shouldn’t hope for a bargain: During the pandemic, prices in attractive locations have increased by double digits. There has been an increase of around 36 percent throughout the country since the beginning of 2011.

Condominium prices continue to rise: up 0.6 percent in December and 2.6 percent last year. “Condominium sellers hope that potential buyers will purchase an affordable condo rather than a single-family home, which means this type of homeownership is still very popular. This is now driving up asking prices even more,” Waeber explains. Housing prices have increased by an average of 50 percent since the beginning of 2011.

Source :Blick