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PROPERTY

Swiss property prices see strongest rise in years

Residential property prices in Switzerland experienced one of the strongest price increases in recent years, new figures show.

Published: 8 November 2021 12:26 CET
Swiss property prices see strongest rise in years
The prices of Switzerland’s housing, here in the old part of Lucerne, has risen significantly this year. Photo by Dorothea OLDANI on Unsplash

During the first nine months of this year, house prices rose by 6.2 percent, while apartments went up by 5.2 percent, according to RealAdvisor appraisal platform

Where are the properties most expensive?

As this RealAdvisor chart indicates, the priciest housing is in urban centres like Geneva, Zurich, and Basel, or locations with a high concentration of multinational companies and residents, such as Zug and Lausanne.

RealAdvisor’s chart shows not only by how much property prices have increased between January and September 2021 — 1 percent is a Swiss average — but also the price buyers paid for a square metre of a single-family house or apartment.

Image by RealAdvisor

“This steady rise in prices, although at a more moderate pace this quarter, attests to continued strong demand. But it also signals that there are fewer available properties”, said Jonas Wiesel, RealAdvisor’s co-founder.

The number of apartments for sale dropped most in Biel (-31 percent), Zug (-26 percent) and Lausanne (-23 percent). On the single-home market, the decrease is even more drastic, mainly in Zug (-58 percent), Neuchâtel (-45 percent), Schaffhausen (-38 percent), and Geneva (-28 percent) .

Why do Swiss property prices keep rising?

As The Local explained in a recent article, one major reason for such a low rate of home ownership — and high real estate prices —  is scarcity of land.

Switzerland is a small country with little land left to be developed, and the development of whatever land is available is strictly regulated; for instance, agricultural land can’t easily be used for construction.

And as Switzerland’s land is not expandable, “residential real estate will continue to appreciate in value”, Stefan Fahrländer, chairman of the board of Fahrländer Partner, a real estate consultancy firm in Zurich, said in an interview.

READ MORE: How much do you need to earn to afford a house in Switzerland?

The good news, however, is that the situation on the property market is now stabilising in regards to price hikes.

These links provide useful information for all those who are looking for houses or apartments to buy in Switzerland:

READ ALSO: Property in Switzerland: Where are house prices rising the fastest?

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LIVING IN SWITZERLAND

Lost and found: where to look for your ‘missing’ items in Switzerland

In Switzerland, like in other countries, people sometimes lose their belongings in various places. Many ultimately find their way to their rightful owner.

Published: 19 April 2024 12:10 CEST
Lost and found: where to look for your ‘missing’ items in Switzerland

Unlike socks that disappear in the wash, never to see the light of day again (which is a global, rather than just Swiss phenomenon), many lost items often do reappear. 

The bigger the item is, the more chance there is of it being found.

But even smaller objects like keys are often returned to their owners — it all depends on who finds them and to what lengths these people are willing to go to ensure that lost items are returned to their owners.

(Human nature being what is it is, you have more chances of being reunited your keys than with your jewellery or a wallet that still has all its contents inside).

But you may be surprised to learn that cases of exemplary honesty still exist.

One such example, in 2022, involved an envelope containing 20,000 francs found lying on a sidewalk by passersby and returned to the man who dropped it while getting into his car. 

What are some of the more unusual things people leave behind?

Each year, Uber Switzerland publishes a list of things that passengers forget in cars. 

This year, among purses, cell phones, laptop computers, umbrellas, and pieces of jewellery, drivers found in the back seats items including a purple wig, carnival mask, coffee machine, and a spatula for crêpes.

The items found on trains are even stranger. 

They include, according to the national railway company SBB, taxidermy animals, an authentic samurai sword, and a prosthetic leg (it’s not clear whether this was a spare or whether the passenger had to hop off the train).

Where should you look for the items you lose in Switzerland?

It depends on where you think, or know, you left your belongings.

Public transport

If it’s on the train, file a lost property report here. 

For the PostBus, it’s here. 

Additionally, public transport companies in your community have their own ‘lost and found’ offices, as do local police stations.

Airports

Zurich 
Geneva 
Basel 

Additionally, to maximise your chances of being reunited with your lost property, report it here.

Through this site, you can also check whether your lost item has been found and handed in at one of the offices.

If your lost item is found, must you pay a ‘finder’s fee’?

Yes, Swiss legislation says so.

No exact amounts are specified, but “the reward should be appropriate in relation to the find,” according to Moneyland consumer platform.

In principle, “a finder’s fee equal to 10 percent of the amount returned to the owner is considered an appropriate reward.” 

Also, if the process of finding out who the lost object belongs to and returning it to you generates extra expenses for the finder (such as train fare or other travel costs, for example), you have to reimburse these expenses in addition to the reward.

(By the same token, if you find and return someone else’s belongings, you can expect the same compensation).

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