As residents continue to grapple with rising rental costs, a new study from the Swiss Real Estate Association (SVIT) has revealed that the number of available houses and apartments in Switzerland has plummeted in the last few years. The number of property listings in the alpine nation has dropped by more than a quarter compared to two years ago.

130.000 fewer homes offered for rent in Switzerland compared to 2022

According to the data, 340.000 properties were advertised for rent in Switzerland between April 2023 and March 2024. This amounts to a 50.000-home drop (13 percent) compared to the same period the years before, and a 130.000-property decline (28 percent) compared to 2021 / 22.

SVIT noted that the number of affordable homes in Switzerland has plummeted most in the last few years, adding that “the dramatic nature of this development is masked by the additional supply of spacious and expensive properties.” 23 Swiss cantons have seen their supply of available apartments drop in the last three years - only three regions, Geneva, Ticino and Zug, saw their housing supply rise.

Affordable homes in Switzerland being snapped up in just two weeks

This scarcity is also reflected in how little time it takes landlords to find new tenants, with SVIT noting that the average time between the listing being put on the internet and being taken down in Zug is now just nine days. The cherry canton was followed by Schwyz (14 days) and Zurich (15 days). By contrast, the average lifespan of property listings in Jura and Ticino is much longer at 54 and 42 days respectively.

The dearth of housing supply in Switzerland, which has a growing population thanks to internationals coming to fill jobs, is often cited as the main reason why property is increasingly unaffordable to both buy and rent. Indeed, a Swiss real estate expert predicted back in May that the country would need to build over 500.000 new homes by 2040, just to satisfy demand.

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