Rental offers are falling for the first time in five years
Keystone-SDA
Asking rents in Switzerland fell between July 2025 and July 2026 for the first time since 2019/2020.
This finding comes from the Rental Home Market Price Analysis (ReMPA) carried out by the Swiss Real Estate Institute on behalf of Newhome.
On a national average, prices for advertised rental flats have fallen by 1.7%, the property portal Newhome announced on Wednesday. The quality-adjusted Homegate Rental Index, by contrast, had shown mostly rising prices over the last 12 months. However, the two indicators are only comparable to a limited extent.
Regionally, according to Newhome, the picture is mixed: advertised rents fell most sharply in Ticino (-10.9%) and, surprisingly, in the canton of Zurich (-3.3%). They also fell slightly in the Mittelland region (-0.9%). By contrast, Central Switzerland (+2.3%) and Eastern Switzerland (+1.4%) saw increases.
Zurich remains the most expensive region
Despite the decline, Zurich remains the most expensive region in Switzerland, with an average net rent of CHF2,340 (about $2,858) per month. The Mittelland remains the most affordable, at CHF1,452. In the canton of Zurich, advertised rents had risen by 2.1% in the previous year.
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At the same time, the number of property listings in Zurich has risen over the last three years from 46,226 to 49,194 and finally to 50,785 flats. According to the authors of the study, this additional supply is likely to have helped ease the pressure on Zurich’s rental market.
Decline despite a tight supply
The nationwide decline is striking against the backdrop of a historically tight housing supply: the vacancy rate fell to 1% in 2025, the lowest level in the past 10 years, whilst the housing stock grew by only 0.95%.
“The more important finding is that regional housing markets are diverging increasingly,” Newhome CEO Roman Timm is quoted as saying. Institute director Peter Ilg refutes the notion that investors would rather leave flats vacant than let them out at a lower rent: in the Zurich region, the vacancy rate fell from 0.56% to 0.48% despite an increase in property listings.
Methodology differs from other indices
The figures raise methodological questions. ReMPA reflects the unweighted average of all around 300,000 advertised rental flats, without adjusting for differences in location or facilities. Other indices, such as the Homegate Index, painted a different picture for the previous period.
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In response to an enquiry from AWP, Newhome acknowledges that shifts in the regional composition of the listings – fewer properties on offer in expensive areas, more in the more affordable canton of Ticino – could explain part of the decline, without quantifying this. The cause of the nationwide decline also remains unclear: according to Newhome, an in-depth analysis was not part of the study.
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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
