Real estate market defies the pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has barely affected the housing market. This is what CSL Immobilien found in the summer survey. According to her, the demand for office space has held up better than expected.
300 players in the real estate market took part in this year's summer survey, CSL Immobilien informs in a press release . The record high participation shows "how strongly real estate companies, funds and investors are currently interested in exchanging current market information," it said. According to the results of the survey, the economic downturn associated with the coronavirus pandemic had little impact on the real estate market.
"The turning point in the real estate market caused by the pandemic is significantly less than expected," said Patricia Reichelt, Head of Research & Market Analysis at CSL Immobilien, quoted in the press release. According to the results of the survey, the differences in the housing market compared to the previous year are “so minimal in all five regions in both the property segment and the rental housing market that no general trend is discernible,” the press release said. When it comes to the development of purchase prices, the market players anticipate that the prices for single-family houses will rise more significantly than the prices for condominiums.
But the demand for office space is "still there despite the corona shock," writes CSL Immobilien. Here, growing or newly founded companies generated additional demand “despite overall falling overall demand”, explains the company. “In the Greater Zurich Area, demand in these two categories fell by a third compared to the previous year. But still 16% of the survey participants stated that growth or start-ups were the main motivation for the demand ”, it says in the communication. In Basel this would be the case for a third of those surveyed, in Bern for 16 percent. In Geneva and Lausanne, however, growth or start-ups were not mentioned as a reason for demand. In the opinion of CSL Immobilien, however, the additional demand could mean that the demand for office space will fall significantly less sharply in the coming years than after the financial crisis in 2008.
