SVIT Switzerland: Study on the Housing Market.
10.07.2025For the first time in three years, the number of rental apartments advertised on Swiss real estate portals has risen again. The time it takes for rental apartments to remain advertised has become shorter – despite a significantly larger supply. The latest OWI study, conducted by the Swiss Real Estate Institute on behalf of SVIT Schweiz, HEV Schweiz, and the real estate portal newhome, explains this as a “release of pent-up demand for moves.” Between April 2024 and March 2025, around 70,000 more apartments were advertised than in the same period last year (+21%).
SVIT Switzerland comments: “A shorter advertising period despite significantly more listings indicates that pent-up demand for moving is at least partially being released. However, in cities with traditionally dry housing markets, the situation continues to worsen with significantly greater momentum, especially in Chur. The search for an apartment remains difficult in view of the strong demand. Contrary to expectations, only Zurich is showing signs of slight easing.”
With the Online Housing Index (OWI), the Swiss Real Estate Association SVIT Switzerland has launched a new reporting tool as an alternative to the less meaningful vacancy rate. It is based on the duration of online property listings and allows for a much more differentiated assessment of the market situation in twelve Swiss cities. The Online Housing Index is compiled every six months for 12 Swiss cities (starting in May 2015) and published by SVIT Switzerland.
You can download the entire study as a PDF file here (in German only).