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Tag: Swiss Real Estate Institute

  • Housing market loses liquidity

    Housing market loses liquidity

    The number of rental flats advertised on the most important property portals fell by 13 per cent year-on-year between April 2023 and March 2024 to 340,000 advertisements, according to the Swiss Real Estate Institute, SVIT Switzerland and the Swiss Homeowners Association(HEV) in their latest online flat index. “Tenants are staying in their flats because they cannot find new ones at comparable rents, which in turn reduces the supply,” they say. The property experts from the three organisations have identified a decline in the supply of small to medium-sized affordable flats in particular. In contrast, the supply of large flats has increased.

    In the reporting period, around 625,000 relocations were counted across Switzerland, which is 75,000 fewer than in the same period last year. According to property experts, this lock-in effect was reinforced by the fact that existing rents rose less sharply than asking rents during the reporting period. As a result, the housing market is losing liquidity.

    However, despite the reduced supply of properties, advertising times for rental flats have only shortened slightly. It has therefore not become more difficult to find a new flat, the property experts explain. However, interested parties would probably have to dig deeper into their pockets or reduce the amount of space they use.

    Rising rents are leading to a reduction in living space per capita, explains study director Peter Ilg from the Swiss Real Estate Institute. “This leads to less of a housing shortage in cities, and less living space consumption per capita achieves the universally desired internal densification.”

  • Demand for condominiums is highly dependent on region and price

    Demand for condominiums is highly dependent on region and price

    The latest edition of the Online Home Market Analysis from the real estate portal Homegate and the Swiss Real Estate Institute (SwissREI) examines the advertisement data for condominiums for 2020 and 2021. The evaluated advertisements come from the four largest Swiss Internet portals and thus comprise around 85 percent of all online advertisements during the period under review. Detailed reports on the study for all regions can be found here in the online media release .

    For Martin Waeber, Managing Director Real Estate, SMG Swiss Marketplace Group, the latest online home market analysis shows how heterogeneous the Swiss condominium market is: “Overall, the demand for condominiums throughout Switzerland developed somewhat less dynamically last year due to the corona. However, certain market segments have seen lively demand over the past year, particularly in cities.” On average, the duration of advertisements in the low price segment has increased significantly in the cities examined, while it has remained practically unchanged in the higher price segment, although the number of advertisements has increased. “Similar to the rental apartment market, preferences in the condominium market have shifted away from smaller and cheaper to larger and more expensive properties during the Covid19 pandemic,” said Waeber, summarizing the study results.

    Longer advertisement duration despite smaller offer
    The significant increase in the average tendering period for condominiums from 61 to 84 days in 2020 compared to 2019 due to the Covid19 pandemic was confirmed at a high level in 2021 with 85 days. In comparison, the length of listings for single-family homes has fallen from just over 61 days in 2019 to pre-pandemic levels.

    On the other hand, around 20 percent fewer condominiums were offered online across Switzerland in 2021 than in the previous year. With such a severe shortage of offers, one would expect that the average duration of advertisements would also be correspondingly shorter. However, the fact that this has not shortened, but actually lengthened slightly, is evidence of a declining demand for condominiums across Switzerland for 2021.

    Prof. Dr. Peter Ilg, head of the SwissREI institute, sees several reasons for the weaker demand for condominiums: “Condominium prices in Switzerland rose by more than 8 percent on average in 2021. This is the strongest price increase in ten years. Such a significant increase in prices is likely to have had a dampening effect on demand in general. Increasing demand can only be seen in selected regions and in individual upper price segments, in which the buyers were probably able to increasingly resort to advance inheritances». This can be deduced, for example, from the distribution of taxable assets and homebuyers by age group. In the canton of Zurich, for example, the over-54s have more than half of the taxable assets, while across Switzerland the majority of home buyers are under the age of 55, Ilg continues. 

    Regional differences in the duration of advertisements are increasing
    From a regional perspective, the differences in the duration of advertisements in the eight major regions examined in 2021 have become more pronounced. In the Zurich region, where sellers have to advertise a condominium for the shortest time in Switzerland, the duration of the advertisement was reduced significantly by around a quarter to just 43 days (minus 14 days). In the two regions with the longest average duration of advertisements for a condominium, on the other hand, they continued to rise significantly, each at around 22 percent; the Vaud/Valais region recorded an increase of 18 to 98 days, Ticino by 25 to 139 days.

    In absolute terms, the greatest reduction in the length of advertisements was seen in the Central Switzerland region. After a decline of 19 days (minus 27 percent) for 2021 with 51 days, this region now has the second shortest advertisement duration of all eight regions surveyed, right after the Zurich region. The Geneva region, on the other hand, which still had the shortest advertisement duration in Switzerland at 52 days in 2020, fell back to third place in 2021 after an increase of 12 percent (plus 6 days).

    Increasing demand only in three out of eight regions examined
    The combination of the change in the duration of advertisements and the change in the number of advertisements allows conclusions to be drawn about the change in demand in the regions examined. In the three regions of Ticino, Vaud/Valais and Geneva, for the year 2021, despite a shortage of supply (i.e. a declining number of advertisements), there has been a significant increase in the duration of advertisements in some cases and thus a shrinking demand for condominiums. For the three regions of Central Switzerland, Northwestern Switzerland and Zurich, on the other hand, increasing demand (larger percentage decline in the length of advertisements than in the number of advertisements) can be observed. The other two regions (Eastern Switzerland and Espace Mittelland) show constant demand for 2021.

    Growth in demand for city apartments, especially in the upper price segment
    In addition to the eight regions, the Online Home Market Analysis also examines eight Swiss cities. When analyzing the demand for condominiums, a closer look at the price segment shows that demand in Basel, Lausanne, Geneva and Lugano in particular has increased. Both in the high price segment (CHF 1.5 million – CHF 3.0 million) and in the low price segment (CHF 0.3 million – CHF 0.5 million). In the high price segment, demand increased overall in six of the eight cities surveyed – in addition to Basel, Lausanne, Geneva, also in St. Gallen and Lucerne – while in the low price segment, the remaining four cities recorded constant or falling demand. This increased demand in the high price segment is now taking very different forms; While in Basel the declining length of advertisements in particular led to higher demand, in Geneva a much higher increase in the number of properties on offer compared to the length of advertisements indicated this conclusion.

  • Second homes make the highest jump in price

    Second homes make the highest jump in price

    The prices of single-family houses increased in 2021 compared to the previous year by an average of 9 percent to CHF 1.42 million. The prices of condominiums rose by an average of 8.3 percent to CHF 0.91 million. This is shown by the figures from the Home Market Price Analysis presented annually by the real estate marketplace Homegate and the Swiss Real Estate Institute of the Zurich School of Economics (HWZ). As stated in a media release , this is the highest price dynamic for residential property in ten years.

    For second homes, prices rose by 35 percent compared to the previous year. “The price increases for first homes are amazing,” says Peter Ilg, head of the Swiss Real Estate Institute. “But in the case of second homes, a market has been created due to the strict limitation on supply by the second home initiative that is ideal for real estate speculation.”

    Condominiums are still the most expensive in the Zurich region, single-family homes in the Lake Geneva region. The sharp rise in prices seems to be leading to fewer sales transactions, at least for single-family homes. They fell by 10 percent.

    There are major differences between the regions at the community level: With the same budget of 3.1 million francs, for which there was a house in Erlenbach ZH, you could buy a good six single-family houses in Brugg AG. The lowest average prices for condominiums were paid in the municipality of Sainte-Croix VD at CHF 0.28 million, the highest in Zumikon ZH at CHF 2.37 million.

  • Homes are getting more expensive

    Homes are getting more expensive

    The real estate platform homegate.ch , which belongs to the TX Group , has published the “Home Market Price Analysis” report, which was drawn up jointly with the Swiss Real Estate Institute . It examines the price development of real estate in the four regions of Berne, Lake Geneva, Northwestern Switzerland and Zurich. According to the results , home sales prices have increased in 2021.

    In the Geneva region, the price increase for owner-occupied homes was the highest at 8.9 percent. However, prices have been falling in 2020. The increase is therefore described as a “catch-up effect”. At 8 percent, Zurich recorded the second largest price increase.

    When it comes to prices for condominiums, the Zurich region continues to be the most expensive. In contrast, the most expensive single-family homes are in the Lake Geneva region. However, the Northwestern Switzerland and Bern regions are also catching up. For example, average single-family house prices grew the most in Northwest Switzerland at 11 percent, followed by the Bern region (9.1 percent).

    On average, prices for single-family homes and condominiums rose by 9 percent and 8.3 percent respectively in 2021. According to the report, this is the highest price dynamic for residential property in the regions examined for ten years.

    Second home prices have risen particularly sharply by 35 percent in 2021 after falling by more than 20 percent last year. “Price increases for first homes are astounding, but for second homes, due to the strict supply restrictions imposed by the second homes initiative, a market has been created that is ideal for real estate speculation,” explains Peter Ilg, head of the Swiss Real Estate Institute.

  • Pandemic stimulates housing market

    Pandemic stimulates housing market

    The number of advertisements for rental apartments on Swiss real estate portals increased by around 13 percent year-on-year between April 2020 and March 2021, writes SVIT Switzerland in a statement on the current online housing index (OWI). It is prepared every six months by the Association of the Real Estate Industry in cooperation with the Swiss Real Estate Institute . In the current OWI, the analysts registered around 513,000 advertisements for rental apartments.

    The average period for which an apartment has to be offered until it is rented has simultaneously been reduced by two to 32 days, the analysts further explain in the press release. For them, the shortened advertising time and the increasing number of advertisements are a sign of increasing demand on the rental housing market with a simultaneous decrease in rental periods. "It can be assumed that the pandemic was the trigger for many tenants to review and adjust their own living situation," the message says.

    In 21 of 26 cantons, the analysts observed a year-on-year decrease in advertising time. The advertising times in French-speaking Switzerland have hardly changed, while in German-speaking Switzerland they have decreased in all cantons. The canton of Zug currently has the shortest advertising time at 14 days. Ticino ranks at the other end of the scale. Here, apartments have to be advertised on average for almost two months before they can be rented.

    In the cities, the analysts observed a “sharp rise” in advertisements for rental apartments in the reporting period. After 3.5 percent in the previous year, the number of advertisements in the “Corona year” in the twelve cities examined increased by 32 percent. However, because the average length of advertising has barely increased, the analysts assume that there will be relocations within the cities. "The much-cited urban escape" could not be proven with the figures, it says in the message.

  • Single-family houses are very popular even in times of crisis

    Single-family houses are very popular even in times of crisis

    The speed at which sellers have been able to sell their homes over the past year has varied widely across regions. While single-family houses in the greater Zurich area became even scarcer and were sold within an average of 43 days, it took 100 days longer in Ticino. This is the finding of the Swiss Real Estate Institute of the Zurich School of Economics (HWZ) and the online real estate marketplace Homegate in their biannual evaluation of real estate advertisements on the Internet.

    Accordingly, the average advertisement time for single-family houses on the leading online real estate portals in Switzerland rose by 26 percent in 2020 from 61 to 77 days. This development was driven by the regions of Ticino and Waadt / Wallis. In Ticino, advertisements were on the Internet 60 percent longer before they were sold than in 2019. In the Vaud / Wallis region, it took 25 percent longer and thus 71 days to sell a house than in the previous year.

    The authors of the study see a possible reason for the increase in the average tendering time in the uncertainty in the crisis year, which made many wait and see. Nevertheless, the demand remained high. “In some regions it took a little longer to sell a property for a short time. But we can see that the tide has already turned again and that single-family houses are very popular even in times of crisis, ”Jens Paul Berndt, CEO of Homegate, is quoted in a press release.

  • Homes are still in demand

    Homes are still in demand

    The home market continues to grow even during the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In the four most liquid market regions in Switzerland, prices rose by an average of 3.7 percent in 2020 to an average of 1.3 million francs, explains homegate.ch in a statement on the current Home Market Price Analysis. It is created annually by the digital real estate marketplace from TX Group in cooperation with the Swiss Real Estate Institute of the Zurich School of Economics ( HWZ ).

    The study analyzes the development of purchase prices and transactions for single-family houses and condominiums in the regions of Zurich, northwestern Switzerland, Bern and Lake Geneva. The prices for single-family homes rose in all four market regions last year, the press release explains. The most significant price increase was observed in the Lake Geneva region, at 4.1 percent. The lowest price increases of 1.6 percent were in the Zurich region. The number of transactions in the single-family home market increased by 3.1 percent year-on-year.

    For condominiums, the analysts identified price increases of between 3 and 4 percent in three of the four regions examined. In the Lake Geneva region, on the other hand, prices fell by 2 percent year-on-year. On average, the prices for condominiums rose by 0.5 percent to 850,000 francs in the year under review. The number of transactions in the condominium market increased by 2 percent in 2020.

    In times of crisis, the flight into real assets is nothing new, Peter Ilg is quoted in the communication. The “ongoing boom” during the pandemic-induced recession is “astonishing” for him, says the head of the Swiss Real Estate Institute. As a background to the current developments, Ilg cites, on the one hand, the likely long-term low interest rates. On the other hand, "living in the times of Corona has become more important".