Soaring rental costs are driving residents out of Switzerland’s largest cities, Zurich and Geneva, according to a new report. Wiht typical apartments now exceeding 4,100 Swiss francs per month, a growing number of average-income earners are being priced out of teh market and forced to relocate to surrounding areas – or leave the country altogether. The trend,despite a typically stabilizing economic climate,signals a deepening affordability crisis in Switzerland’s urban centers.
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- People with average incomes are leaving major cities due to high rental costs.
- Despite current conditions suggesting rent increases should slow, they are not.
- Prices are also rising sharply, even outside of city centers.
Typical apartments in Zurich and Geneva now cost more than 4,100 Swiss francs per month. “Typical,” according to real estate consultancy IAZI, means 4.5 rooms, 2 bathrooms, 110 square meters, and 5 years old. Over the past 25 years, rents in Zurich have risen by 42 percent and in Geneva by 52 percent.
|
Increase in Offer Rents |
since 2005 |
|---|---|
|
Zug |
59 % |
|
Geneva |
52 % |
|
Zurich |
42 % |
|
Bern |
31 % |
Economic headwinds, job cuts, and declining immigration would typically suggest a moderation in price increases. However, that isn’t happening. “The supply is effectively rigid,” says Donato Scognamiglio, Chairman of the Board of IAZI. “Despite low interest rates, little new construction is taking place. This is due to high population density, difficulties in accessing affordable financing, and numerous objections to new projects.”
The high cost of housing is reshaping the demographics of these cities. These prices are largely affordable only to dual-income households without children.
A recent study by Zürcher Kantonalbank (“Immobilien aktuell”) points to another factor driving up prices: newcomers to Swiss cities frequently move again soon after arrival.
In Zurich, 28 percent of immigrants moved again within a year in 2022—60 percent of them within the city itself. ZKB explains: “One reason for their high mobility is that immigrants do not benefit from the favorable existing rents reserved for long-term tenants. They take advantage of the unfavorable starting conditions to find something better in terms of price and performance.”
Anyone looking for a new apartment in Zurich should have a household income of at least 150,000 Swiss francs.
Keystone / ANTHONY ANEX
The result is a displacement of so-called “normal earners.” “We are observing that people are being pushed out,” says Donato Scognamiglio of IAZI. “If you can no longer afford Zurich, you go to Bülach. And if you can no longer afford Bülach, you go to Weinfelden.”
Consequently, most major cities are experiencing an outflow of residents to other parts of Switzerland. This trend is masked by continued population growth, which is largely driven by immigration.
|
Migration within Switzerland |
2019 to 2024 |
|---|---|
|
Lausanne |
-1.3 % |
|
Zurich |
-1.1 % |
|
Basel-Stadt |
-0.9 % |
|
Geneva |
-0.4 % |
|
St. Gallen |
-0.4 % |
Even traditionally more affordable regions are now seeing rising rents. Scognamiglio notes that some areas have experienced rent increases of up to 50 percent in recent years, “something that was unthinkable. But it’s like an overflow basin: the last valleys are filling up, and the water level is rising.”
There is no indication of a reversal in sight. The real estate expert predicts that prices will continue to rise. Zürcher Kantonalbank also forecasts a rent increase of 1.5 percent for 2026.
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