immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Mieten

  • The big living showdown

    The big living showdown

    The housing protection initiative aims to prevent rents from rising disproportionately after conversions or demolitions. Investors should have future rents approved with the building permit, and yields should also be capped. A majority in the Cantonal Council (including the SVP, FDP and GLP) rejects this as too much interference in property rights and warns of barriers to investment. Instead, the majority of the committee is proposing a counter-proposal that would protect tenants in particular from abusive terminations. With information and support periods of 12 months in the event of restructuring. Critics see this as a placebo that does little to protect tenants and leaves the interests of yields untouched.

    HEV start-up aid initiative
    This initiative aims to facilitate access to home ownership. The homeowners’ association is calling for the canton to guarantee up to 15 percent of the purchase price for owner-occupiers by reducing the equity from 20 to 5 percent. The government supports the proposal as it could make it easier for middle-income families to buy. However, left-wing parties are warning of rising demand and higher land prices without a sustainable increase in housing supply. A close decision is looming in the cantonal council.

    Home ownership initiative of the HEV
    This initiative demands that at least an equal number of owner-occupied homes be built alongside affordable rental apartments in state-subsidized housing projects. It has not yet found a majority, as critics do not consider the one-sided promotion of rental apartments to be in line with the constitution. A counter-proposal aimed at addressing problems with the calculation of the imputed rental value also has little chance of success.

    Housing initiative of the Greens
    The Greens are calling for the establishment of a public housing agency with start-up capital of at least CHF 500 million in order to create affordable, non-profit housing and promote non-profit developers. The majority in the cantonal council rejects this and instead proposes a framework for accelerated housing construction. The initiators want to force a referendum if the proposal is rejected.

    Outlook and political tensions
    The debate in the cantonal council opens a politically hot autumn. Another point of contention will be the SP’s right of first refusal initiative, which aims to give municipalities more scope to intervene in land purchases in order to limit speculation. Its counter-proposal has mainly economic and legal opponents.

    The positions of the stakeholders show the dilemma between protecting housing, promoting property ownership and concerns about investment incentives. The outcome of the votes will have a decisive influence on future housing policy in the canton of Zurich and is also likely to send a signal to other Swiss cantons.

  • Prices for property in Bern remain on an upward trend

    Prices for property in Bern remain on an upward trend

    “Living in the canton of Bern remains expensive” is the headline of the Berner Kantonalbank(BEKB)’ s latest property barometer. It is compiled every six months by BEKB in collaboration with the Zurich-based property service provider IAZI. According to the autumn 2024 edition, prices for flats and houses in the canton of Bern have risen by 3.3% year-on-year.

    Asking rents are also on an upward trend. The experts at BEKB and IAZI point to strong population growth in the canton coupled with low new construction activity as the background to rising rents and prices on the housing market. “The unemployment rate in the canton remains at a historically low level and the number of job vacancies is steadily increasing,” the press release also states. As long as this remains the case, the housing market is not expected to ease.

    Within the individual regions of the canton, experts have observed a normalisation of price dynamics in tourist regions. Prices in the Oberland regions and especially Obersimmental-Saanen have been strongly driven by the second-home market in recent years. A stabilisation was registered here at the end of the third quarter of 2024. In Oberaargau, on the other hand, prices rose by an average of 3.9 per cent year-on-year. The experts attribute this to a shift in demand for residential property to regions with comparatively moderate price levels.

  • Housing is becoming more expensive

    Housing is becoming more expensive

    People interested in buying their own home had to dig deeper into their pockets in June than in May. Prices for single-family homes rose by 1.2 per cent last month, explains the SMG Swiss Marketplace Group(SMG) in a press release on the current Swiss Real Estate Offer Index. At the same time, SMG’s experts observed a price increase of 1.0 per cent for condominiums. The SMG Swiss Marketplace Group combines the digital marketplaces of TX Group, Ringier and Mobiliar.

    “The Swiss National Bank’s further reduction in key interest rates on 20 June and the prospect of a further reduction in September will result in lower financing costs for mortgages”, comments Martin Waeber, Managing Director Real Estate at SMG Swiss Marketplace Group, in the press release. “This increases both the attractiveness of owning your own four walls and their affordability.”

    SMG’s property experts recorded a month-on-month increase of 0.4 per cent in asking rents across Switzerland. At 3.3 per cent, rents rose the most in Ticino. This was followed by Central Switzerland with 1.8 per cent and Eastern Switzerland with 1.2 per cent. In the major regions of Zurich and Northwestern Switzerland, however, rents were 0.6 and 0.2 per cent lower than in May.

  • Reference interest rate remains unchanged

    Reference interest rate remains unchanged

    The reference interest rate will remain unchanged at 1.75 per cent in June, the Federal Office for Housing announced ina press release. The interest rate relevant to tenancy law for the whole of Switzerland has been at this level since the beginning of December 2023. This means that no new claims for rent reductions or increases can currently be made on the basis of the reference interest rate.

    The reference interest rate, which is graduated in quarters of a per cent, is calculated using the volume-weighted average interest rate for domestic mortgage receivables. As at the reporting date of 31 March, it stood at 1.72%, the same level as in the previous quarter. The reference interest rate, which is commercially rounded to 1.75 per cent, is only adjusted if the average interest rate falls below 1.63 per cent or rises above 1.87 per cent. The next announcement of the reference interest rate will be made on 2 September.

    Rents based on a reference interest rate of 2.0 per cent or higher are currently still entitled to a reduction. Conversely, landlords are entitled to an increase if the rent is based on a reference interest rate of 1.5 per cent or lower. This does not apply to rental agreements with indexed or graduated rents, rents for subsidised flats and turnover rents for commercial premises.

  • Property market shows slight easing

    Property market shows slight easing

    Prices for single-family homes fell by 1.0 per cent in February compared to January, according to the SMG Swiss Marketplace Group(SMG) in a press release on the current Swiss Real Estate Offer Index. This means that the significant rise in prices at the beginning of the year has been reversed, write the SMG experts. The SMG Swiss Marketplace Group combines the digital marketplaces of TX Group, Ringier and Mobiliar.

    Over the last twelve months, prices for single-family homes have remained relatively stable with only a slight increase of 0.1 per cent. SMG’s experts have also registered a stabilisation in the market for condominiums. A zero round was observed here in February. Following significantly stronger increases in previous years, prices have risen by an average of just 2.9 per cent across Switzerland over the last twelve months.

    Asking rents for flats fell by an average of 0.6 per cent across Switzerland in February compared to January. Within the regions, asking rents were lower than in the previous month, particularly in Central Switzerland, the greater Zurich region, Ticino and Eastern Switzerland. In contrast, asking rents in the Central Plateau and the Lake Geneva region rose slightly.

    “After several months of increases, February brought a ray of hope for flat seekers”, Martin Waeber, Managing Director Real Estate at SMG Swiss Marketplace Group, is quoted as saying in the press release. According to him, this is partly due to the planned maintenance of the reference interest rate under rental law at its current level.

  • Residents of Eastern Switzerland would reduce living space

    Residents of Eastern Switzerland would reduce living space

    Nikola Vukovic and Raphael Dietrich have developed options for easing the housing market in Eastern Switzerland in their final thesis for the Master’s degree programme in Real Estate Management at OST – Ostschweizer Fachhochschule. “The Swiss population lives too generously,” Vukovic and Dietrich are quoted as saying in a corresponding OST press release. However, according to the findings of the two researchers, many residents of Eastern Switzerland would be prepared to reduce their living space.

    Specifically, 43 per cent of 379 participants in a survey as part of the master’s thesis stated that they could do without living space. A guest room or a hobby room were particularly frequently rated as unnecessary. However, alternatives are needed, “such as a central guest room that would be easy to rent in the flat block,” explains Vukovic.

    The Master’s students have also identified a high level of willingness among the population to move into a smaller flat. However, the problem here is that there are not enough small flats available, according to the press release. The price can also be an obstacle: “Nobody would give up a four-room flat for 1,000 francs for a smaller flat that costs the same or more,” says Vukovic.

    Urban centres could be eased by moving to more rural regions. In the survey, around 95 per cent of respondents indicated a willingness to do so. “However, the respondents would not move without conditions,” explains Dietrich. “Incentives would have to be created to encourage people to move away from urban centres.”

  • Study on the role of spatial planning in rising housing costs

    Study on the role of spatial planning in rising housing costs

    The study “Causes of rising housing costs in Switzerland with a focus on spatial planning” makes it clear that spatial planning plays a moderating role in the real estate market: it has an impact on construction activity and thus influences housing costs. The increase in demand for housing, on the other hand, is a driving factor in rising housing costs. Among other things, the downsizing of households, population growth and rising individual housing consumption play a role here.

    Spatial planning can have an influence here. It limits the availability of building land and zoning capacities. In this way, it controls how flexibly the supply of housing can adapt to changing demand. If spatial planning is too strict, the supply can react less flexibly to the strong increase in demand. This can lead to higher housing costs in the long run.

    Internal development as a solution

    However, one of the tasks of spatial planning is to limit urban sprawl and protect the landscape. The study identifies inner development as an instrument that allows both the protection of the landscape and an increase in the supply of housing. The study also shows that rezonings have a price-dampening effect in areas where the utilisation of building zones is already high. Upzoning is defined as the expansion of possible uses within a building zone. This is therefore an effective means and, if used in a targeted manner, can have an optimal effect. The study results also suggest a connection between high housing costs and high planning and process costs. Lengthy approval and objection procedures also contribute to increased costs.

    Conference on housing and spatial development

    As part of the Swiss Housing Days 2023, which will take place from 3 to 7 November 2023 in Biel, a panel of experts will discuss on 6 November how internal development can be shaped so that more affordable housing is created in the process. More details and registration at www.bwo.admin.ch.

  • Swiss asking rents are already rising again

    Swiss asking rents are already rising again

    The Homegate rent index for asking rents is collected by the real estate marketplace Homegate in cooperation with the Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB). It measures the monthly, quality-adjusted change in rental prices for new and re-let apartments based on current market offers. The index shows a slight increase of 0.3 points compared to the previous month at 118.1 points (plus 0.3 percent compared to the previous month). Compared to the previous high of June 2022, the index has increased by almost 0.2 percent. In a year-on-year comparison, asking rents across Switzerland have risen by 2.3 percent.

    Change in the cantons
    Looking at the cantons, it is again striking that in August compared to the previous month, only a few cantons showed major changes in asking rents, while the majority of cantons only saw changes of 0.5 percent or less. Only in the cantons of Geneva (1 percent), Bern (0.7 percent) and Obwalden (0.7 percent) have advertised rents increased by more than this mark. It is striking that asking rents have risen in all cantons without exception, especially in the mountain regions: Nidwalden (6.5 percent), Obwalden (4.6 percent) and Graubünden (4.1 percent). A total of eleven cantons recorded an increase compared to the previous year, which is higher than the national average of 2.3 percent.

    change in the cities
    In the surveyed Swiss cities, meanwhile, there were clear changes in August. These are more than 0.5 percent in five out of eight cases. In August alone, asking rents in Lucerne (1.1 percent), Bern (1.1 percent) and Geneva (1 percent) increased by a good one percent. In all three cases, however, this increase also accounts for a considerable part of the increase compared to the previous year, which is around 1.5 percent for each of the three cities. The situation is different in Zurich or Basel: While the asking rents in August changed only minimally compared to July, both cities recorded significant growth compared to the previous year of 5.6 percent in Zurich and 2.9 percent in Basel.

    Method of quality adjustment
    The development of asking rents in Switzerland is corrected for the different quality, location and size of the apartments. The advantage of this so-called hedonic method is that the real rental price development for new apartments and apartments to be rented again is shown on Homegate. The Homegate rental index is the oldest quality-adjusted rental price index in Switzerland and is considered a reference source for real estate professionals to determine the price of rental properties.

  • Asking rents remain stable month-on-month

    Asking rents remain stable month-on-month

    The rental index, which is collected monthly by the digital real estate marketplace Homegate in cooperation with the Zürcher Kantonalbank , closed July at 117.7 points, Homegate informed in a press release . Compared to the previous month, advertised rents fell by an average of 0.2 percent across Switzerland. The analysts of the index have observed different developments within the individual cantons.

    Rents have remained relatively stable in most cantons. In Zug, Graubünden, Geneva and Glarus, however, the analysts observed significant declines of between 3.9 and 1.3 percent. Year-on-year, rents increased across all cantons.

    Of the eight cities examined in the index, the analysts only observed a month-on-month increase in asking rents in Basel and Lucerne. Rents fell slightly in the other cities, but more sharply in Geneva and Lausanne, each by 1.6 percent. Compared to July 2021, asking rents have risen in all cities, with the strongest increase in Zurich at 6.4 percent.

    When recording rental price changes for the rental index, the rental prices are corrected for different quality, location and size of the apartments, explains Homegate. This makes it possible to record the actual rental price development.

    Homegate is a division of SMG Swiss Marketplace Group AG . This combines the digital marketplaces of TX Group , Ringier and Mobiliar .

  • Asking rents continue to rise

    Asking rents continue to rise

    The Homegate rental index now stands at 117.9 points. This means that asking rents increased again by 0.3 percent in June, and by 1.3 percent since the beginning of the year. According to a media release from the real estate marketplace, this is “in stark contrast to the rental price development before the COVID 19 pandemic, when rising vacancies in the Swiss rental apartment market caused nervousness among investors”.

    Because the net rents have also become more expensive, the increased energy costs alone cannot be held responsible. In fact, building applications have been declining for the last two years. At the same time, there is brisk demand for rental apartments. “So just a few years ago there was concern about an oversupply of rental apartments, but these are again extremely scarce in sought-after locations.”

    Homegate describes the half-year increases in the cantons of Zug (5.4 percent) and Graubünden as well as in Appenzell (4.3 percent each) as remarkable. The increases were lowest in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft (0.6 percent) and Ticino (0.5 percent).

    In the cities, demand has increased again since the infrastructure started up again after the first phases of the pandemic, particularly in Zurich (4.8 percent). Lausanne (2.5 percent) and Lugano (1.8 percent) were also above the national average. Only in St.Gallen were rents slightly down (minus 0.2 percent).

  • Asking rents remain largely stable

    Asking rents remain largely stable

    The monthly rental index collected by the digital real estate marketplace homegate.ch from the TX Group in cooperation with the Zürcher Kantonalbank increased by 0.3 points to 116.7 points in January compared to December 2021, homegate.ch explains in a corresponding statement . The analysts explain that the asking rents in most cantons have not increased at all or only slightly. On average, however, there is an increase of 0.26 percent.

    The analysts registered above-average increases of 1.45 and 3.85 percent in the cantons of Nidwalden and Zug in the reporting period. In contrast, asking rents in the cantons of Graubünden, Valais, Schaffhausen and Geneva were between 2.01 and 0.08 percent lower than in December 2021.

    In contrast, the analysts observed rising rents almost everywhere in the cities surveyed. The only exceptions were St.Gallen and Lucerne. Here, the asking rents were 0.77 and 0.40 percent lower than in December 2021. The city of Bern showed the highest increase in a monthly comparison with 0.96 percent.

    When recording the rental price changes for the rental index, the rental prices are corrected for different quality, location and size of the apartments, the communication explains. This makes it possible to record the actual rental price development.

  • That cost of Switzerland

    That cost of Switzerland

    A significant part of the spending by Swiss people is in the areas of housing, mobility, insurance, leisure and sport. In its annual data analysis ” It costs Switzerland”, the SMG Swiss Marketplace Group provides comprehensive insights into the actual cost of living in Switzerland.

    For this purpose, the figures for 2021 were collected on the online platforms ImmoScout24, Homegate, FinanceScout24, AutoScout24 , Car For You, MotoScout24, anibis.ch, tutti.ch and Ricardo . “As a digital pioneer, we want to simplify the lives of people in Switzerland with groundbreaking products,” says Gilles Despas, CEO of SMG Swiss Marketplace Group. “With our platforms, we give them the opportunity to offer and buy products and compare prices quickly and easily. Especially in an expensive country like Switzerland, price transparency is important to keep an eye on the cost of living.»

    Real estate market: Condominiums in Zug are three times more expensive than in the Jura
    Looking at real estate prices in Switzerland, there are large cantonal differences. While a 4.5-room apartment in the canton of Jura cost an average of CHF 516,000 in 2021, it was more than three times as much in the cantons of Geneva or Zug at over CHF 1,700,000. If you take the most sought-after type of apartment, the 3.5-room rental apartment, as a reference property, there will be differences in rental costs between the cantons of over 110 percent in 2021. While tenants in the canton of Jura paid an average of just 1,135 francs, this figure is more than twice as high in the canton of Zug at 2,428 francs. Overall, the rental prices for 3.5-room apartments remained the same or even fell compared to 2020 in most cantons last year.

    The detailed results of the study on the individual areas can be found under “ The costs for Switzerland ”.

  • Shared micromobility harms the climate

    Shared micromobility harms the climate

    Shared micromobility is more harmful to the climate than expected. This is shown by a study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich ( ETH ). This becomes clear if the evaluation of the climate impact of micromobility also includes how electric scooters and bicycles are actually used: “At first glance, e-scooters and e-bikes are climate-friendly because they do not have internal combustion engines,” says Daniel Jan Reck from the Institute for Transport Planning and Systems at ETH Zurich in a report by ETH. “Ultimately, however, what is decisive for their carbon footprint is which modes of transport they typically replace.”

    The transport researchers working with Reck were able to show in their study that shared e-scooters and e-bikes in the city of Zurich mainly replace sustainable modes of transport: walking, using local public transport and cycling. They do more harm than good to the climate. “I think the sharing principle makes sense,” said Reck. “With micromobility and its climate impacts, however, the situation actually seems to be the other way around.”

    The picture is different for privately used e-scooters and e-bikes. These replace more frequent journeys with one’s own car. This is why private micromobility reduces CO2 emissions “and benefits the climate on balance”. That is why it makes sense for authorities to promote commuting by means of private micromobility.

    For his research, Reck received the Young Researcher of the Year Award from the International Transport Forum of the OECD in summer 2021. The think tank of the industrialized countries, based in Paris, awards the prize to young researchers whose work is important in matters of transport policy.

  • Asking rents continue to rise

    Asking rents continue to rise

    The monthly rent index compiled by the digital real estate marketplace homegate.ch from TX Group in cooperation with Zürcher Kantonalbank rose by 0.17 points to 116.1 points across Switzerland in November compared to October, explains homegate.ch in a corresponding message . The analysts write that the index has already exceeded its high in October. Over the past twelve months they have observed an increase in asking rents of 0.96 percent.

    In the month under review, rents rose in most of the cantons, the press release explains. The analysts observed the strongest growth of 2.33 percent in the canton of Graubünden. In Zug and Schwyz, too, asking rents rose at an above-average rate of 2.04 and 0.59 percent. In the cantons of Nidwalden and Neuchâtel, on the other hand, asking rents in November were 0.49 and 0.81 percent lower than in October.

    In terms of cities, the analysts point to striking declines in asking rents in Zurich (-0.82 percent) and Geneva (-0.79 percent). The asking rents in Lausanne and Lucerne rose the most in comparison to October, at 0.30 percent each.

    When recording the rental price changes for the rental index, the rental prices are corrected for different quality, location and size of the apartments, is explained in the communication. This makes it possible to record the actual rental price development.

  • Adjusted asking rents rise slightly

    Adjusted asking rents rise slightly

    The monthly rent index compiled by the digital real estate marketplace homegate.ch from TX Group in cooperation with Zürcher Kantonalbank rose by 0.2 percent to 115.7 points across Switzerland in September compared to August, explains homegate.ch in a corresponding message . An increase of 0.8 percent has been observed over the past twelve months. In the individual cantons and cities, the index analysts observed different developments on a monthly basis.

    In some cantons, the changes compared to the previous month were stronger than usual, according to the announcement. The analysts observed the strongest increase in asking rents at 3.69 percent in Graubünden. But asking rents in Nidwalden and Uri also rose by a high 1.69 and 1.38 percent, respectively. In the cantons of Zug and Neuchâtel, on the other hand, asking rents were 1.25 and 1.21 percent lower than in August. With the exception of Lugano (+1.72 percent), the analysts recorded rather minor changes in the cities compared to the previous month.

    “The moving month of September was not only an active time for those moving, the asking rents also reflected this”, Fabian Korn from homegate.ch is quoted in the message. “It will be exciting to see how this will develop with the falling temperatures.”

    When recording the rental price changes for the rental index, the rental prices are corrected for different quality, location and size of the apartments, is explained in the communication. This makes it possible to record the actual rental price development.

  • April rents rise by almost 1 percent

    April rents rise by almost 1 percent

    The homegate-ch asking rent index was unchanged in April compared to the previous month at 115.6 points. The rent for apartments to be re-let, on the other hand, rose by an average of 0.96 percent. This index is calculated monthly in cooperation with Zürcher Kantonalbank . It shows the quality-adjusted change in rental prices for new and re-let apartments based on current market offers.

    “As usual,” the rents developed differently depending on the canton, according to homegate.ch in a press release. According to this, the asking rents recorded an increase in rents, especially in the cantons of Bern (0.26 percent), Thurgau (0.52 percent) and Vaud (0.24 percent). In the canton of Geneva, asking rents have fallen by 0.93 percent. A similar picture emerges in the cities. The city of Geneva in particular recorded a decline of 1.27 percent.

    According to the company, the homegate.ch asking rent index is the oldest quality-adjusted rental price index in Switzerland. Real estate professionals use it as a reference source for determining the price of rental properties.

  • Rental prices drop slightly in March

    Rental prices drop slightly in March

    The prices for rents fell in March compared to the previous month by 0.4 percent. This short-term development is only reflected in the national averages. In the most expensive and densely populated regions, rents rose in March, according to the latest data from the Swiss Real Estate Offer Index. In the long term, too, prices have increased on average.

    Tenants in the Lake Geneva region had to pay 0.2 percent more in March, and even 0.9 percent in the greater Zurich region. According to a press release, rents in north-western Switzerland also rose by 0.3 percent, in eastern Switzerland by 0.2 percent and in Ticino by 1.9 percent. In Central Switzerland, on the other hand, rents fell by 1.2 percent. Over the year as a whole, rental prices rose by an average of 0.6 percent for the country.

    In the case of home ownership, prices have also developed differently, depending on the type of residence. While those interested in condominiums benefited from an average of 0.4 percent lower prices in March, buyers of single-family homes had to add 1 percent.

    In the past twelve months, home prices even rose by a record 7.2 percent. While the square meter cost 6398 francs in March 2020, it was 6857 francs in March of this year.

    In the case of condominiums, the plus of 3 percent was somewhat more moderate. Here, the price per square meter rose from 7,366 francs in March 2020 to 7,587 francs in March 2021.

    The data of the Swiss Real Estate Offer Index is created in real time on the basis of advertisements on the real estate platform ImmoScout24 and in cooperation with the real estate consultancy IAZI AG .

  • The reference mortgage rate remains at 1.25 percent

    The reference mortgage rate remains at 1.25 percent

    The Federal Housing Office (BWO) has left the mortgage reference rate for tenancies unchanged at 1.25 percent. In a press release by the BWO, it is pointed out that this rate, which applies to rent structuring throughout Switzerland, has not been changed since March 3, 2020.

    The reference interest rate is determined on the basis of the quarterly average interest rate for domestic mortgage claims. This was determined on December 31, 2020. According to the BWO, the rate fell from 1.30 percent to 1.28 percent in the previous quarter. The reference interest rate applicable under rental law remains at 1.25 percent and remains at this level until the average interest rate falls below 1.13 percent or rises above 1.37 percent, explains the BWO. The rate is always given with a quarter percent accuracy.

    Since the rate remains unchanged, according to the BWO, there is no new lower or higher claim. If a rent in the individual contractual relationship is not based on the current reference interest rate of 1.25 percent, there is a right to a reduction. Changes in costs, for example in the case of maintenance costs, could also lead to an adjustment claim.

  • The digitization of the co-owner assemblies

    The digitization of the co-owner assemblies

    Regardless of the Corona situation, the following difficulties must be addressed and overcome, especially at STWE meetings:

    • Fair communication with all stakeholders
    • Compliance with legal provisions and deadlines
    • High administrative effort
    • Compliance with deadlines
    • Creation and assignment of tasks
    • Logging of the entire meeting

    Digitization has also given a huge boost to solutions in this area. Accordingly, various providers are active in the market who are trying to move the analogue process into the digital world, but not all of them succeed in this with the same simplicity and slightly broad solution approach. The preselection and quality check are all the more important here. The solution from our product portfolio can be understood as plug & play due to its compatibility with various ERP formats and IT infrastructures. Due to the one-time setup and the relatively small effort, the efficiency advantages stand out even more. As soon as everything has been installed and put in place, entire processes can be digitized and comprehensively dealt with.
    Hybrid, partially digitized processes are also not a problem for the solution, which is very important in view of the different willingness / IT skills of the meeting participants. In this way, all of the above difficulties can be addressed and resolved using one and the same software.

    The bottom line is that, with the support of the simple solution, flexible STWE meetings can be carried out physically and / or digitally, thereby significantly increasing the efficiency of the implementation as well as of the preparation and follow-up work. This means that the focus can be put back on the work steps where specialist and social skills are needed. In addition to the digitization of management, other digital solutions have come into focus, which can be seen at PropTechMarket.net.

    You can find out more about this at: https://proptechmarket.net/solutions

  • Asking rents continue to rise

    Asking rents continue to rise

    The coronavirus pandemic has hardly left any traces on the market for rental apartments, writes homegate.ch in a message on the annual review of the homegate.ch rental index. It is created monthly by the real estate portal owned by the TX Group in collaboration with Zürcher Kantonalbank . For 2020, the rent index shows an increase in asking rents for apartments of 0.9 percent year-on-year. This means that apartment rents have even risen faster than in the previous year, explains homegate.ch.

    The analysts observed the sharpest increase in rental prices in the year under review with 2.7 percent in Appenzell. In the cantons of Geneva, Thurgau, Zug, Graubünden and Zurich, rents have also risen faster than the Swiss average, with values between 2.6 and 2.3 percent, the press release explains. Rising net immigration is mentioned as the background for the rental price development.

    The gap in rent prices between urban and rural cantons that had prevailed in previous years was weakened in the reporting year, the analysts further explain in the press release. On the one hand, they attribute this to the concentration of the construction industry in urban regions. On the other hand, the work in the home office, which was funded during the pandemic, "led to evasive effects in the countryside". Urban living remains in trend despite the pandemic.

  • Coronavirus: Federal Council presents a monitoring report on the business rents situation

    Coronavirus: Federal Council presents a monitoring report on the business rents situation

    The report Monitoring commercial rents comes to the following results:

    • Based on a structural analysis by Wüest Partner, there are around 390,000 business leases in Switzerland with a rental volume of an estimated two billion francs per month. Around CHF 900 million of this is for office space, CHF 500 million for trade and industry, CHF 400 million for retail space and CHF 200 million for hotel and restaurant use. In addition to the 390,000 leases, around 60 percent of the companies run their business in their own property. During the period of maximum restrictions between March 17 and April 26, 2020, around 113,000 tenancies were affected by the closings by the Federal Council. The cumulative rent of the commercial properties affected by closings amounts to 530 million francs per month. This corresponds to 27 percent of the rental volume.
    • A representative survey by gfs.bern came to the conclusion that the proportion of tenants who have difficulties paying their rent in connection with the mandatory closings has risen from 6 to 33 percent in the weeks of the lockdown. This is particularly true of western Switzerland and Ticino. The survey also showed that the majority of tenants (around 60%) sought relief solutions – and the majority have found them. Agreements were reached far more often than disagreements; for the tenant side the ratio of agreements to non-agreements is 3 to 2, for the landlord 9 to 1. The vast majority of the agreements came before the parliamentary decisions of June 2020. In almost three out of four cases, the agreements involved rent reductions.
    • The economic development so far points to a rapid and strong economic recovery. The number of company bankruptcies and the number of new requests in the statistics of the arbitration authorities are currently within the usual range or below the previous year's level.
    • An international comparison shows that most European countries – like Switzerland – rely on support measures to secure the liquidity of the businesses affected by closings. There were seldom interventions in terms of tenancy law, and if so, it was an extension of payment or notice periods. There are no statutory rent reductions in the eleven European countries examined.

    On the basis of these results, the Federal Council comes to the conclusion that there is currently little evidence of comprehensive and area-wide difficulties in the area of commercial rents. However, this does not rule out the possibility that there may be unsatisfactory constellations in individual cases. Depending on how the pandemic develops, the situation can quickly worsen.

    For this reason, the Federal Council is currently refraining from taking any measures (e.g. in the legislative area). However, it instructs the Federal Housing Office to continue the commercial rents working group and to discuss any support in the area of advice and information with the cantons. Because experience has shown that regional solutions are best suited to the local situation.

  • Rents rose in August

    Rents rose in August

    In August, asking rents in Switzerland rose by 0.26 percent. The upward trend is particularly confirmed in the annual analysis with a plus of 0.88 percent. This is shown by the current rental price index figures from homegate.ch and Zürcher Kantonalbank ( ZKB ). It measures the monthly, quality-adjusted change in rental prices based on current market offers.

    The rental price development in the canton of Thurgau is striking, according to a media release from the real estate marketplace homegate.ch. The rent there rose by 0.71 percent, almost three times the Swiss average. The canton of Valais also shows a noticeably higher value with a plus of 0.62 percent. In the cantons of Zurich, Glarus, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden, apartment hunters are confronted with rents that have risen by 0.50 percent, in Schaffhausen it is plus 0.49 percent. On the other hand, Geneva recorded the steepest decline with a minus of 1.48 percent. The rent index is only stagnating in the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Schwyz.

    The cities of Geneva (-2.43 percent) and Lugano (-1.41 percent) recorded a large decline. In contrast, asking prices in the city of Zurich rose (+1.31 percent). Only in the city of Basel does the rent index remain unchanged.

  • Rental prices also rise in the Corona crisis

    Rental prices also rise in the Corona crisis

    As a result of the corona pandemic, an escape from the cities to the countryside or to rural residential areas was expected in the real estate sector because of the supposedly lower risk of infection there compared to overcrowded cities. That has not happened so far. On the contrary, according to the press release on the half-year report prepared by homegate.ch in collaboration with Zürcher Kantonalbank ( ZKB ), cities in particular continue to be very attractive.

    Throughout Switzerland, asking rents have risen by 0.4 percent since the beginning of the year. The slight downward trend of previous years has thus ended and was already broken in mid-2019. The higher rents are particularly evident in the cantons of Geneva with a plus of 4.5 percent, Jura with 1.7 and Uri with 1.5 percent. This trend can also be seen in most of the other cantons, with a few exceptions such as in the cantons of Obwalden and Nidwalden with minus 0.5 percent each, Graubünden and Basel-Land (-0.4 percent) and Ticino (-0.3 percent ). They are still suffering from the weakness in rent trends over the past few years. Vacancies are recorded in many rural cantons and municipalities.

    The half-yearly balance points to the robust rental price development in the cities of Geneva (+3.8 percent) and Zurich (+1.4 percent). This contradicts the expectations regarding the effects of the Corona crisis. However, the report points out, the rental situation could change for another reason, but one caused by Corona. The influx from abroad is likely to decrease and this can lead to downward pressure on rental prices in the case of vacancies, especially in many rental apartment projects that have been started due to the high influx of people to date.