Swiss asking rents are already rising again
Asking rents in Switzerland rose again slightly in August after a temporary decline in July. Specifically, they increased by 0.3 percent. The index now stands at 118.1 points. This is also above the previous high of June 2022. This is shown by the current figures of the Homegate rental index.
The Homegate rent index for asking rents is collected by the real estate marketplace Homegate in cooperation with the Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB). It measures the monthly, quality-adjusted change in rental prices for new and re-let apartments based on current market offers. The index shows a slight increase of 0.3 points compared to the previous month at 118.1 points (plus 0.3 percent compared to the previous month). Compared to the previous high of June 2022, the index has increased by almost 0.2 percent. In a year-on-year comparison, asking rents across Switzerland have risen by 2.3 percent.
Change in the cantons
Looking at the cantons, it is again striking that in August compared to the previous month, only a few cantons showed major changes in asking rents, while the majority of cantons only saw changes of 0.5 percent or less. Only in the cantons of Geneva (1 percent), Bern (0.7 percent) and Obwalden (0.7 percent) have advertised rents increased by more than this mark. It is striking that asking rents have risen in all cantons without exception, especially in the mountain regions: Nidwalden (6.5 percent), Obwalden (4.6 percent) and Graubünden (4.1 percent). A total of eleven cantons recorded an increase compared to the previous year, which is higher than the national average of 2.3 percent.
change in the cities
In the surveyed Swiss cities, meanwhile, there were clear changes in August. These are more than 0.5 percent in five out of eight cases. In August alone, asking rents in Lucerne (1.1 percent), Bern (1.1 percent) and Geneva (1 percent) increased by a good one percent. In all three cases, however, this increase also accounts for a considerable part of the increase compared to the previous year, which is around 1.5 percent for each of the three cities. The situation is different in Zurich or Basel: While the asking rents in August changed only minimally compared to July, both cities recorded significant growth compared to the previous year of 5.6 percent in Zurich and 2.9 percent in Basel.
Method of quality adjustment
The development of asking rents in Switzerland is corrected for the different quality, location and size of the apartments. The advantage of this so-called hedonic method is that the real rental price development for new apartments and apartments to be rented again is shown on Homegate. The Homegate rental index is the oldest quality-adjusted rental price index in Switzerland and is considered a reference source for real estate professionals to determine the price of rental properties.