A new study from real estate consultant Wüest Partner has revealed that property in Switzerland has become significantly more valuable in the last decade. In one canton, those who bought property in 2015 have seen their home’s value increase by 80 percent.
In the report, Wüest Partner noted that price rises on the Swiss housing market will continue into 2025. In their forecast, they predicted that the average cost of a home would rise by 3,8 percent this year, slightly faster than the 10-year average of 3,6 percent.
Wüest Partner explained to the media that across Switzerland, construction has failed to keep pace with demand. The number of building permits granted for new apartments fell to its lowest level ever 2023, with the report adding that while new construction is finally on the rise again, the number of homes per head of population has declined by 40 percent since 2015.
The news ties into other recent reports from UBS and Immoscout24, with the Swiss bank revealing that a couple earning the average salary in Switzerland - 150.000 francs a year total - are only able to afford 31 percent of homes on the market. Immoscout24 found that while the number of apartments for sale rose in 2024, it was mainly because fewer people could afford to buy them.
For places like Zurich and Geneva, the large number of jobs being offered in the region has led to an acute shortage of homes. Along with sending home prices skyward in the cities themselves, the shortages lead many to try and find a home within easy commuting distance. This means prices in places like Aargau, Schaffhausen, Thurgau, and Vaud are also on the rise.
In central Switzerland, low housing supply, low taxes and proximity to major cities are also causing a spike in prices. For Basel, Wüest Partner found that an increasing number of residents are looking for cheaper homes in nearby Germany and France.
On average, homes in Switzerland are 33 percent more valuable in 2025 than they were in 2015. Single-family homes have seen the biggest boosts in value in the last 10 years, rising by 43 percent.
These rises were most extreme in Canton Uri, where single-family properties are now 80 percent more expensive than they were in 2015. Nidwalden (77 percent), Zug (70 percent), Schaffhausen (62 percent) and Schwyz (59 percent) completed the top five.
When it comes to apartments, Zug has seen prices rise the fastest at 69 percent between 2015 and 2025. This is perhaps no surprise, given that a quarter of Zug’s local population have left the city in the last decade, a phenomenon blamed on high rental and purchase prices. Canton Zurich (50 percent), Schwyz (49 percent) and Graubünden (46 percent) and Uri (44 percent) rounded out the top four.