For most people around the world, having a million to spend on buying a house will conjure images of viewing stunning villas and large family apartments. However, a new study by Wüest Partner has revealed that in most parts of Switzerland, a million francs will only give you a small slice of a home.
To create the study, the company analysed the average price per square metre of properties for sale in 106 different regions across Switzerland. They then used the results to calculate what size houses and apartments were available for a million francs.
The answer, at least in Swiss cities, is not too big. The study noted that people looking to buy property in Zurich get the worst value for money, with one million francs only able to secure 51 square meters on average - the equivalent of a rather cosy 1,5-room apartment. This equates to 19.607 francs per square meter of floor space.
The home to many international companies, the business capital of Zug placed second with 56 square meters per million francs. The city's score was nearly equalled on the west side of the Röstigraben, with Geneva rounding out the podium with 59 square meters. In contrast, of the 10 largest Swiss cities, Biel / Bienne offers the largest dwellings for the lowest price, with one million francs netting homebuyers 128 square meters on average.
On the flip side, Wüest Partner found that Canton Jura, northwestern Switzerland, and rural regions in the east offer the most value for money. In Jura, one million francs will secure you a 192-square-meter home on average, nearly four times more space than in Zurich. Thal, Canton St. Gallen (185 square meters), La Chaux-de-Fonds (182), and the Bernese Jura (174) rounded out the bottom four.
In all, here are the 15 places in Switzerland that offer the smallest dwellings for 1 million francs (in square metres per million):
By contrast, here are the 10 areas where a million francs nets you the largest home:
Some other well-known locations in the study include Winterthur (97), Lucerne (98), Bern (105), Lugano (106), St. Gallen (119) and Aarau (130).
In the report, given to the Tages-Anzeiger, Wüest Partner noted that the Swiss housing market is in a state of flux, especially regarding recent changes to interest rates on mortgages. For example, thanks to rises in the reference interest rate, mortgage interest on million-franc properties has risen from 8.000 francs a year at the start of 2022 to 20.000 francs a year today.
Despite rising mortgage prices, experts noted that house prices overall have remained "surprisingly stable" in recent months. They concluded that although rising at a slower rate than before, house prices have still increased by an average of 3.4 percent in the last year.