2024-04-25 14:59:42
Published25. April 2024, 16:59
Rental pricesVacant rental apartments are now rare and expensive, even in rural areas
There are hardly any free apartments left in Switzerland. Affordable apartments in particular are in short supply. This now also applies outside the city.
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The number of empty apartments is falling dramatically.
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That’s why many people are increasingly looking for apartments in the countryside.
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Rents for vacant apartments therefore rise by over four percent.
The situation on the housing market is getting worse. Demand is increasing due to population growth through immigration strong. The availability of available rental apartments is declining in all price ranges, as an evaluation by the real estate consulting agency Wüest Partner shows.
Hardly any empty apartments left
In order for the cantonal housing market to be in balance, a vacancy rate of 1.27 percent is required. Last year, however, the vacancy rate was lower in 21 cantons. Across Switzerland, only 1.15 percent of all apartments were empty.
The supply of rental apartments is particularly tight. Compared to 2020, there are 30 percent fewer apartments. For inexpensive rental apartments under 1,500 francs per month without additional costs, it is even 39 percent less.
Housing is also scarce in rural areas
The experts at Wüest Partner find it particularly striking that the ratio of search subscriptions to advertisements is now higher in out-of-town areas than in inner-city centers.
They see the main reason as being that more and more people are looking for living space outside of the cities because they believe they have a greater chance of finding what they are looking for there. That is why availability is increasingly limited in rural areas.
New building permits at a low level
The shortage is also exacerbated by the fact that there is hardly any construction going on anymore. The number of new building permits fell to 24,200 rental apartments in 2023, which is the lowest level since 2012. This year, the number of empty apartments is likely to decrease even more.
Asking rents continue to rise
According to Wüest Partner, the rental housing market also presents itself in a poor light in terms of social sustainability due to price developments. Rents for advertised apartments rose by 4.7 percent last year, the highest they have been since 2008. This year prices are expected to climb another 4.1 percent.
However, many renters live in apartments whose rents are low compared to the current market level. A key reason for this is that many have lived in their apartments for a long time and have benefited from stable or even falling rents over time.
For 28 percent of Swiss households, if they moved into a similar apartment, their housing costs would rise to over a third of their gross income. In the cantons of Geneva, Zug, Zurich, Vaud and Ticino the proportions are even higher.
Rents from existing contracts are also increasing
The rental prices for the majority of the existing contracts increased following the renewed Increase in the reference interest rate in December 2023 will be increased by three percent from April. Existing rents are therefore expected to rise by an average of 1.9 percent this year.
The good news at the end: Further increases in the reference interest rate are almost impossible for this year following the key interest rate cut, as Wüest Partner writes.
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