In Switzerland, demand for owner-occupied apartments increased more between July 2018 and June 2019 than in previous periods, according to homegate.ch’s Online Home Market Analyse (OHMA).
During the period under review, the number of apartments offered for sale on online portals rose by 9.7% throughout Switzerland. Only two of the eight regions covered by the survey, Geneva and Vaud/Valais, saw a decline in real estate supply, according to the study conducted by the Swiss Real Estate Institute of Zurich’s HWZ School of Economics and published on Wednesday.
Advert publication times shortened from 70 to 61 days on average (-12.9%), with the exception of the Zurich region (plus one day). 61 days is also the duration in the cantons of Vaud/Valais, Eastern and Central Switzerland and Geneva. Ticino remains the region with the longest publication times (an average of 77 days).
The study noted a decline in the supply of small condominium apartments (under CHF 1.5 million), but an increase in demand in the upper segment.
Optimum conditions for a purchase
To explain the growing demand, Peter Ilg, Director of the HWZ Swiss Real Estate Institute, notes that “the continuing good economic situation, low long-term interest rates and low unemployment provide private households with ideal economic conditions for long-term investment in their own property (…). What’s more, studies show that buying at a mortgage interest rate of up to 2% is considerably cheaper than renting”.
For the first time, Zurich has overtaken Geneva as the city with the highest residential property prices. On average, CHF 13,000 per square meter of net living area is charged in Zurich, compared to CHF 12,900 in Geneva. In Berne, the least expensive city, prices are almost half that, at 6,100 francs per square meter.
The analysis of supply and demand was carried out on the basis of advertisements published on the four main Swiss real estate marketplaces between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 compared with the previous period.
Source : SWI
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