Zurich luxury apartments sit empty despite housing shortage

Switzerland is in the midst of a housing crisis, with vacancy rates dropping each year and currently at just 1 percent. Yet new luxury apartments in Oerlikon, Zurich, remain half empty. High rents could be to blame.

Oerlikon luxury apartments priced too high

Known as the Living Eleven project, two buildings on Jungstrasse in Oerlikon have been ready for new tenants since November 2025. However, 34 of the 61 apartments are currently still empty, reports Blick. 

The rent could be the reason why the apartments are still vacant. For example, a 85,4-sqaure metre 2,5 room apartment costs 5.520 Swiss francs a month to rent. 

One of the most expensive apartments in the development is a 4,5-room, 132-square-metre apartment costing 6.570 francs per month. The cheapest is 2.100 francs a month for a 1,5-room, 36-square-metre apartment. The rent is high “even by Zurich standards”, continues Blick. 

However, according to the NZZ, the company managing the new apartments sees the high rent as a “consequence of sharply increased construction and land prices, high standards of finish, and lengthy procedures involving local heritage protection and countless official regulations."

Well-priced apartments in Zurich are rented quickly

Zurich is known to be one of the most expensive cities in Switzerland to live and was named one of the most overpriced housing markets in the world. Between March 2022 and March 2024, the average net rent for a three-room home in Zurich was 1.578 francs a month. The average wage in Zurich is around 7.500 francs per month, according to the Federal Statistical Office.

“Affordable housing is in high demand”, continues Blick, so a recently advertised 10-metre-square apartment in Zurich for 1.200 francs is “likely to be snapped up quickly”. 

According to real estate expert Donato Scognamiglio, “If an apartment is vacant on the current housing market, the quality is either not right, or it's simply too expensive.” The Zurich city council recently announced plans to create more affordable housing in the city, but the measures are aimed at providing long-term relief.