Becoming an owner in Switzerland has become cheaper: really?

Since the start of the year, prices for owned accommodation have fallen slightly. But the direction of the curve is still uncertain. On the other hand, for investment properties, the direction is clear.

Samuel Thomi / ch media

In Switzerland, the share of renters is increasing again, as home ownership has become unaffordable for many. The dream of becoming homeowners is crumbling and resignation is setting in, particularly among Millennials and Generation Z.

But now the data published last week by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) offers another observation: residential property prices in Switzerland fell by 1% during the first three months of the current year compared to the previous quarter. The OFS’s so-called residential property price index (IMPI) therefore stands at 116.3 points (4th quarter 2019 = 100).

To determine the IMPI, the OFS records real estate prices every quarter on the basis of 7,000 over-the-counter transactions in all regions of Switzerland.

Prices of buildings increase

According to the FSO, prices for detached houses are roughly the same as a year ago, while prices for condominium apartments are slightly higher than six months ago. Apart from a slight drop about a year ago, real estate prices in Switzerland have seen only one trend over the past five years: a continuous increase.

The situation is a little different for investment real estate. According to Fahrländer Partner Raumentwicklung (FPRE), property prices in Switzerland continued to increase in the first quarter of this year: by 1.8% compared to the previous quarter and by 1.1% compared to the same quarter of the year former.

Compared to the peak at the start of 2022, the drop in prices in the investment property sector remains significant: -11.1%. “The outlook in the field is generally positive,” says Stefan Fahrländer of FPRE. He emphasizes that income is stable, even positive.

The main ones risks

For the real estate expert, “decentralization of regulation” constitutes the greatest risk. In addition to Geneva and Vaud, Basel is currently going “beyond national regulations on tenancy law” and the real estate markets of large cities “are the subject of ever greater political attention”, according to Stefan Fahrländer.

The second major finding of the latest FPRE report: in addition to collective buildings highlights another point: office property prices also increased in Switzerland in the first quarter: By 2.6% compared to the previous quarter and even by 3.1% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

After Columbia, Sciences Po and the University of Lausanne, it is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and the University of Geneva which are blocked by pro-Palestinian activists. In Zurich the police intervened.

Los Angeles, Paris, Lausanne and now Zurich and Geneva. In the town of Calvin, the “Palestine Student Coordination” announced an occupation of the university from Tuesday Tuesday. She is supported in her approach by the University Conference of Student Associations (CUAE).