House prices continued to rise in September, notwithstanding the end of the negative interest rate policy in Switzerland. Rents and prices for condominium apartments remained almost stable.
“Strong demand for living space and limited supply are stimulating the Swiss real estate market, despite the end of the negative interest rate policy,” noted the Swiss Real Estate Offer Index on Tuesday, jointly surveyed by ImmoScout24, SMG Swiss Marketplace Group and Cifi.
During the month under review, house prices gained 0.8%. The amount to be paid to acquire an apartment gleaned 0.2% and rents increased by 0.3% on average.
For rents, however, the evolution of prices is not the same in all regions: while the prices displayed in Ticino (+3.1%) and in Mittelland (+2.1%) have increased significantly, they remained almost unchanged in the Lake Geneva region (+0.3%) in particular. The rents offered in central Switzerland (-0.7%) and in Greater Zurich (-0.8%) show contractions.
Immoscout 24, however, anticipates an increase in rents in the coming months, due to strong immigration.
“According to the current count of vacant homes, on June 1, 2022, the day of the official census, almost 60,000 homes were empty in Switzerland, 10,000 less than last year. The vacancy rate amounts to 1.3% of the housing stock”, indicates Martin Waeber, director of Real Estate of SMG Swiss Marketplace Group, quoted in the press release, before adding that “we are therefore experiencing a shortage of housing , even if the situation again varies according to the regions”.
/ATS