17/10/2024 | Lookmove reports

Swiss real estate agencies – Stats & rankings (Q3 2024)

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This report provides an overview of the Swiss real estate market. It presents statistics and rankings for real estate agencies across the country’s cantons and ten largest cities, distinguishing between those specializing in sales and rentals. The report also highlights the agencies with the highest number of new properties for sale. Featuring 10 data visualization charts, based on information collected and analyzed by Lookmove from 140 real estate portals and agency websites, it offers a precise and up-to-date overview of all the professional players involved in real estate transactions in Switzerland.

Number and Types of Real Estate Agencies in Switzerland

In August 2024, 3,569 real estate agencies published at least one listing on the platforms monitored by Lookmove. Of these, 963 focus exclusively on sales transactions, while 1,091 specialize solely in rental properties. These figures illustrate the distribution of the fields of activity among real estate agencies in the Swiss market, providing an overview of the proportion of agencies focusing on sales compared to those specializing in rentals.

Distribution of Agencies by Portfolio Size

In Switzerland, 42% of real estate agencies have no more than five properties in their portfolio. The majority of agencies, at 53.9%, manage between 6 and 100 properties. A smaller segment of 120 agencies (3.4%) manages between 101 and 500 properties.
Only 23 agencies have more than 500 properties in their portfolio, representing less than 1% of all agencies.

Real Estate Agencies by Canton

The cantons of Vaud, Zurich, and Bern have the highest number of real estate agencies in Switzerland. Vaud leads the way with 451 agencies, closely followed by Zurich with 447 and Bern with 390. In the canton of Vaud, 362 agencies have at least one property for sale in their portfolio, while 301 agencies offer properties for rent. Of these, 212 agencies in Vaud provide both for sale and rental properties.

Leading Agencies in the Swiss Market

In August 2024, the ten largest Swiss real estate agencies were managing approximately 17,500 listings, with portfolios ranging from 1,100 to 3,200 properties for each agency. The leading agencies in terms of the number of properties managed are Betterhomes, Wincasa AG, and Re/Max. For rental properties, the dominant agencies are Wincasa AG, Remicom, and Livit AG, while for properties for sale, Re/Max, Betterhomes, and Immosky stand out. Additionally, the portfolios of Berra Immobilier, Bernard Nicod, and Re/Max include the largest number of new developments for sale.

Agencies in Major Cities

Among Switzerland’s ten largest cities, Zurich has the highest number of real estate agencies, with 225, followed by Geneva with 163 and Bern with 147. Biel/Bienne, on the other hand, has the fewest agencies, with just 35.

Conclusion

The Swiss real estate market in 2024 is characterized by a high concentration of agencies in key cantons and major cities, with the majority managing relatively small portfolios. A limited number of leading agencies dominate the market in terms of the number of properties in their portfolios. This competitive landscape highlights the importance of regional presence and portfolio size for the success of Swiss real estate agencies.

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Lookmove data and methodology

Real-time real estate database

Lookmove employs cutting-edge proprietary technologies in its vertical search engine to

automate the systematic collection and analysis of vast amounts of data from prominent real estate portals, and leading agencies multiple times a day. This comprehensive crawling and analysis methodology, including normalisation, deduplication, and curation, ensures the acquisition of up-to-date and reliable data.

This report is based on data obtained through Lookmove’s daily crawling activities, covering over 140 listings sources in Switzerland and aggregating daily around 600,000 publicly available listings. The data is meticulously processed using proprietary machine learning algorithms to remove duplicates and eliminate outdated and incomplete listings. These technologies enable us to obtain consolidated data on an average of 135,000 properties per day after curation. It is important to note that the number of agencies and listings are based on the data that solely came from the Lookmove system.