Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

PROPERTY

Swiss rents: This is where cheapest and priciest apartments are

How cheap or expensive a rental property is in Switzerland depends on many factors, the primary one being location. Here’s an overview of where the highest and lowest rents are right now.

Published: 14 March 2022 11:28 CET
Swiss rents: This is where cheapest and priciest apartments are
How expensive this apartment is depends on its location. Photo by Max Vakhtbovych from Pexels

This is what we already know in regards to Switzerland’s rental market: apartments are cheaper/more expensive in some cantons and regions than in others.

As a rule, areas in and around major cities and economic hubs (especially multi-national ones) have higher property prices — both for tenants and home buyers — than smaller, more remote towns and rural areas.

For instance, rents in the region of Zug and Zurich, as well as Lake Geneva (which comprises the city and canton of Geneva, and parts of Vaud), are the highest in Switzerland, while Jura, Neuchâtel and non-touristic areas of Valais are much cheaper.

READ MORE: These maps reveal where rent prices are highest in Switzerland

However, the news platform Watson took a slightly different approach in analysing not just the cantons, but 101 labour market regions within.

“These areas, which have been in force since 2019, are delimited according to living and working spaces, and are based on the movements of workers between their place of residence and place of work”, Watson explains.

The news outlet compared the prices for 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5-room apartments in various employment markets, based on Homegate listings.

The findings confirmed the general trend: “The closer to the centre of a large city, the more expensive it gets. The demand there is greater than the supply.”

3.5 room apartment

In 2021, the lowest median rent for a 3.5-room apartment (a two-bedroom flat) was in the labour market regions of Visp (Valais) and Samedan-Pontresina (Graubünden).

The lowest rent for nine flats of this size was 500 francs.

The other low-rent areas:

  • Biasca (Ticino): median price 950 francs
  • Tramelan-Valbirse (Bern): median price 995 francs
  • Delémont (Jura): median price 1,075 francs

On the other hand, “anyone who wanted a 3.5-room apartment in Le Grand-Saconnex near Geneva had to dig deeper into their pockets”, Watson noted.

The median price in 2021 in this posh district of Geneva was 4,950 francs, with the cheapest apartment costing 3,100 francs a month. The other two Geneva communities with the highest rents are Vernier-Lancy (3,500 francs median rent) and Thônex–Chêne-Bougeries (3,000 francs).

“Rents in the Lake Geneva region are among the highest. Not only the location on the lake plays a role, but also the economic potential”, Simon Hurst, Senior Consultant at the real estate appraiser IAZI/CIFI told Watson.

READ MORE: Why is Geneva’s rent the highest in Switzerland?

Rents in Geneva are among the highest in Switzerland. Photo: Pixabay

4.5-room apartment

The cheapest three-bedroom flats — 955 francs — can be found in Moutier, Jura.

The other ones are in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchâtel, where the median price is 1,045 francs, followed by Brig-Glis, Valais (1,050), and Biasca, Ticino (1,075).

As far as the highest rents, they can again be found in the Lake Geneva region, with Zurich not far behind:

  • Geneva: median price 3,400 francs
  • Zurich: 3,130 francs
  • Küsnacht (Zurich) 2,990

5.5-room apartment

The rental market of this size is comparatively small, so there were fewer than 50 advertisements in 50 labour market regions, according to Watson.

The lowest median rent, 1,435 francs, was found  in Brig-Glis (Bern), followed by La Chaux-de-Fonds (1,490), and Widnau-Au (St. Gallen), 1,655 francs.

The highest prices are, again, in the Zurich and Lake Geneva  areas: median price in Zurich: 4,275, in Geneva: 4,200, in Nyon (Vaud): 4,000.

But if you think this is expensive, just wait: in the fashionable resort of St. Moritz (Graubünden), the median price is a whopping 13,365 francs for a 5.5-room flat.

However, Hurst put this numbers into perspective “We don’t have enough details about the properties there, but St. Moritz is a special market”.

“I assume that many of the advertisements are for holiday properties, mostly luxury apartments”, he said.

READ MORE: How rent prices vary in different cities in Switzerland

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

COST OF LIVING

‘It is deceit’: Are Swiss retailers shortchanging consumers?

You may or may not have noticed it when you shop, but many products in Swiss supermarkets have got smaller, while their price has remained the same. What is this about?

Published: 17 April 2024 11:55 CEST
‘It is deceit’: Are Swiss retailers shortchanging consumers?

The simple answer to this question is ‘shrinkflation’, which happens when consumers receive less product for the same price.

These products have ‘shrunk’ either in terms of weight or volume, but the price remains the same.

To be fair, this phenomenon is prevalent in many countries, and not just in Switzerland.

Now a new analysis carried out by a Foundation for Consumer Protection (SKS) jointly with public broadcaster SRF, shows how large Swiss distributors like Migros and Coop play their part in this practice.

Many price increases are so subtle that shoppers may not even notice them, according to SKS head Sara Stalder.

“Retailers like to publicise price reductions, but increases are very well concealed,” she said.

“In the criminal sense it is not fraud, but it is certainly deceit.” 

Size matters

So which products have been hit by shrinkflation? These are just some of the study’s findings:

Kiri cream cheese

A pack has lost weight: from 160 to 144 grammes, to be exact, while its price hasn’t budged, which means an 11-percent price increase.

Margarine

The study focused on the Becel brand, the tub of which is now 25 percent smaller.

However, it costs the same as before — which also translates into an 11-percent price hike.

Frozen fish

Although it still costs the same, a pack of Bordelaise-style fish filet from Findus sold at Manor supermarkets now weighs 400 grammes — 20 grammes less than previously.

Tampax tampons

Instead of 22 tampons per pack, there are now only 20 for the same price, which means consumers now have to pay 10 percent more for this product.

But the shrinkflation phenomenon doesn’t only reduce the size of the product sold in supermarkets; it also means manufacturers resort to using cheaper raw materials to cut costs.

One such example are Milka biscuits, which were previously made with sunflower oil, but now the less expensive palm oil is used in the production process.

This kind of ingredient switch “is common,” Stalder said.

Can consumers do anything to counter shrinkflation?

There is at least one instance where consumers were able to force the manufacturer to backtrack.

A few years ago, Coca-Cola bottles were downsized,  from 500 to 450 millilitres, while the price stayed the same.

Faced with a massive criticism, the company backed down and re-introduced the ‘old’ bottles. 

And retailers can have a say too.

For example, Migros and Coop which, like Manor, also sell Bordelaise fish, adjusted its price downwards when the weight dropped.

“This shows that lower prices are possible,” Stalder said. “Big retailers are more powerful than they pretend. They can negotiate better prices.” 

READ ALSO: What will be cheaper and more expensive in Switzerland in 2024?

SHOW COMMENTS