Residential properties on Swiss market in 2023

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Our report provides an overview of the Swiss residential real estate market in 2023. It highlights the relevant indicators essential for understanding and assessing the Swiss residential property market and its trends, such as the number of properties available, market dynamics (price variations) by transaction type and location, and median prices in the various cantons. With 26 data visualisation charts, this report provides an overview of the dynamics and trends of the Swiss residential property market in 2023.

Here are the key points:

Size of the Market and Focus on Rental Transactions

• In 2023, just over 400,000 homes were placed on the Swiss market, 69% of them for rent and 31% for sale.
• Rental transactions play a significant role in the Swiss property market, with 57.8% of the population renting, higher than the EU average (30,1%).
• More apartments and houses are available for rent annually compared to those for sale. According to our analysis, the monthly average for the total number of residential properties on the market, including both apartments and houses, is 56,829, while the average for properties available for sale is 41,105.

Distribution of Properties by Type and Location

• Houses for rent are less common, constituting only 5.32% of rental properties, while 46.4% of properties for sale are houses.
• The cantons of Zürich (with a monthly average of 8,175), Berne (6,433), Vaud (5,066), Ticino (4,863), and St. Gallen (4,110) reported the highest number of available residential properties for rent, while Appenzell Innerrhoden (with a monthly average of 66), Obwalden (147), and Nidwalden (150) reported the lowest.
• With just over 50,000 residential properties coming onto the rental market in 2023, Canton Zürich stands out as the canton with the highest residential mobility. Rental properties alone in the canton of Zürich account for 12.85% of all residential properties on the Swiss market, including both rentals and sales.
• The cantons with the highest monthly average number of residential properties for sale were Ticino (6876), Valais (5577) and Vaud (5337), Zürich (2746) and Aargau (2669). The cantons with the lowest average monthly number of properties were Appenzell Innerrhoden (37), Nidwalden (108) and Obwalden (115).
• The cantons of Ticino and Valais have the highest average number of properties for sale, despite being the 9th and 8th most populous cantons in Switzerland.

New Properties and Market Dynamics

Another factor we consider is the average number of new properties that enter the market each month. By “new property,” we’re not referring to new construction but rather to properties entering the market (offers available publicly online).
• Zug (59%), Schwyz (55%), and Nidwalden (54%) recorded the highest percentage of new rental properties among all properties available for rent, reflecting their attractiveness (marketing times are shorter in these cantons).
• The total number of new rental properties in December 2023 was highest in Zürich (3,491), Berne (1,942), and Ticino (1,804).
• The total number of residential homes for sale coming onto the market in 2023 is 125,313. The cantons with the highest figures are Ticino (17,944), Vaud (15,931), Valais (14,966) and Zurich (9,983).
• The proportion of new properties coming onto the market each month compared to the total number of properties available is much higher for properties for rent than for sale. This is due to the much shorter time to market for rental properties.
• The monthly share of new properties in the total property sales market varies from 20% (in the Jura) to 33% (in Basel-Stadt and Zug).
• The market for residential properties for sale experienced significant growth in Zürich (+35%) in the latter half of the year.

Median Prices for Rent and Sale

• In December 2023, the highest median rent prices for apartments per square meter were in the cantons of Geneva (CHF 36.55 per m²/month), Zug (CHF 35.99 per m²/month), and Zürich (CHF 31.17 per m²/month), while the lowest were in Jura (CHF 15.15 per m²/month), Appenzell Ausserrhoden (CHF 17.50 per m²/month), and Nidwalden (CHF 17.78 per m²/month).
• Canton Zürich saw a 10% increase in rental apartment prices between September and December 2023.
• The highest median prices for a house to rent in December 2023 were in Zug (CHF 35.70 per m²/month) and Geneva (CHF 34.55 per m²/month). In the other cantons, prices were below CHF 30 per m²/month, with much lower prices like in Ticino (CHF 15.83 per m²/month).
• In December 2023, the median price per square meter of an apartment for sale was highest in the cantons of Zug (CHF 14,375), Geneva (CHF 13,200), and Basel-City (CHF 10,859), while it was lowest in Jura (CHF 4,359), Nidwalden (CHF 5,285), and Glarus (CHF 5,482).
• In December 2023, the most expensive houses for sale, in terms of median price per square meter, were in Zug (CHF 15,654), Geneva (CHF 13,092), Schwyz (CHF 10,196), and Zürich (CHF 9,716). The cheapest houses for sale in December 2023 were located in Jura (CHF 3186 per m²), Glarus (CHF 4598 per m²) and Ticino (CHF 5425 per m²).

Price Trends

• Canton Zug’s attractiveness continues to grow, with rental apartment prices rising by more than 22% in 2023.
• Comparison of median prices of apartments for sale in January 2023 with those in December 2023:
o Price increases in 8 cantons, with the highest recorded in Basel-City (+6.93%), Schwyz (+5.82%), and Grisons (+5.55%).
o No change in median price in Glarus, while the largest decreases were in Jura (-5.59%) and Appenzell Ausserrhoden (-4.45%).
• Median house price for sale per square meter rose in 11 cantons, with the highest changes in Lucerne (+5.53%) and Basel-Land (+2.11%), while Glarus saw significant price decrease (-13.77%).
• Rental prices for apartments increased in 22 cantons, with the highest rises in Zug (+22.56%), Nidwalden (+16.91%), and Zürich (+16%), while decreases were observed in only 4 cantons, the highest being in Glarus at just 1.35%.
• Rental house prices fell significantly in the cantons of Berne (-15,97%), Valais (-9.71%) and Thurgau (-7.71%) in 2023. Lucerne saw the highest increases in median prices (+9.15%). Data for rental house prices was unavailable for 13 cantons due to limited market offers.

Conclusion

-> The highest prices and most significant price increases are found in cantons with large cities and/or cities with dynamic economies and demographics, such as Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Zug or Lucerne.
-> The lowest prices and the steepest declines are seen in less populous and rural cantons such as Jura, Glarus, Obwalden, Appenzell Inner Rhodes and Appenzell Ausserrhoden.
In conclusion, the Swiss residential real estate market in 2023 presented a dynamic landscape characterised by diverse trends in the different cantons. While urban centres such as Zürich and Geneva continued to post high prices and attract significant market activity, rural areas experienced more moderate dynamics. The resilience and adaptability of the market were demonstrated by the rise in rental apartment prices in the cantons of Zug and Zürich, despite overall fluctuations in rental housing prices. Looking ahead, the market is likely to continue to evolve, with price trends reflecting a mix of growth and decline across property types, transactions, and localities, underlining the importance of monitoring regional variations and market dynamics to make informed decisions in the Swiss real estate sector.

Nota Bene

This Lookmove market report is intended for informational purposes only. The data provided reflects published prices and should not be considered transactional or paid prices. Readers are encouraged to exercise caution and conduct their own due diligence when using the information provided. Lookmove assumes no responsibility for any decisions made based on the market report’s content. Professional advice should be sought for specific real estate transactions.

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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 135 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 130,000 properties per day after curation.

It is important to note that the prices shown in the report are published prices and not transaction prices (which may be different, particularly for properties for sale).

Median prices per m²

The median prices show that half of the properties have a lower price and the other half have a higher price. The advantage of the median as a measure of trend is that it is not influenced by extreme values, unlike average prices. As an illustration, suppose a municipality of 5,000 inhabitants where the price of properties is generally CHF 240,000 to CHF 450,000 and where, during a quarter, two properties which are not representative of the municipality are sold for more than CHF 2,500,000. These 2 transactions raise the average, and at the same time, the price growth in this sector is overestimated. The median price, conversely, is not overly influenced by these non-standard transactions. It therefore offers a better understanding of the market as to prices and their evolution.

General Terms of Use

Prices are provided as an indication, and Lookmove does not guarantee their perfect accuracy.

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