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Report: Swiss rents set to fall in 2017

The Local
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Report: Swiss rents set to fall in 2017
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Good news for apartment-hunters: rents are likely to fall during 2017 as the building of new homes leads to an increase in the number of vacant apartments.

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That’s the analysis of real estate consultants Wüest Partner in the latest edition of their Immo-Monitoring report, published on Tuesday. 
 
Rents are likely to decrease by 0.9 percent on average across Switzerland this year, with Geneva and parts of the Valais set for larger reductions. 
 
“The fundamentals of the Swiss rental market remain solid,” said the report. However “construction activity remains high, which will increase the number of available apartments in the coming months”.
 
“Due to the increase in homes, it has become more difficult to find tenants, particularly if rents don’t match their expectations,” it added. 
 
In certain places rental prices are likely to go down as a result, it said.
 
Geneva and the Valais should see decreases of 2.1 percent, while Zurich expects a drop of 1.5 percent and eastern Switzerland 0.8 percent, reported news agencies.
 
It’s a different picture for buyers, with the purchase prices of condominiums and single houses continuing to rise slightly. 
 
Condos are likely to increase by 0.5 percent across Switzerland this year due to high demand, said the report. Single houses should go up by 0.8 percent on average, with the biggest rise in Zurich, at 1.9 percent.
 
However prices in the Lake Geneva region and Valais are set to fall.
 
Only around 30 percent of people own their homes in Switzerland, since most people rent -- despite the fact that rents are among the most expensive in the world.
 
Property prices can also be steep, however wages are among the highest in Europe and interest rates on mortgages are currently extremely low. 
 

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