House prices were up 1.09% during 2020

Switzerland’s housing market has stabilized in the past two years after about 15 years of uninterrupted house price rises, thanks to government market-cooling measures. House prices rose slightly by 1.09% during 2020, following a decline of 1.15% in 2019. During the latest quarter, prices increased 1.34% q-o-q.

The property market’s slowdown in recent years can be attributed to the Swiss National Bank’s stricter lending criteria, designed to lower housing debt (currently 90% of all Swiss household debt). The decision of the central bank to abandon its cap against the euro in 2015 also made Swiss real estate more expensive for foreign investors, thereby reducing demand.

Rents, rental yields: yields are lowish, at around 3.27% 

Zurich apartments are expensive, at around €11,467 per sq. m.  

Switzerland: typical city centre apartment buying price, monthly rent (120 sq. m)
  Buying price Rate per month Yield
Zurich € 1,446,840 € 3,946 3.27%
Geneva € 1,377,120 € 3,827 3.33%

Recent news. Switzerland's economy shrank 2.9% in 2020 from a year earlier, in contrast to expansions of 0.9% in 2019 and 2.8% in 2018, as the COVID-19 pandemic battered the service sector, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The decline was more severe than the 2.1% fall in economic output during the financial crisis and the worst downturn in 45 years. SECO expects the economy to grow by 3% this year and by another 3.1% in 2022, as output recovers from the pandemic. 

Last year, the Swiss government introduced an economic stimulus package worth CHF 65 billion (€ 59.3 billion) to help companies hit by the pandemic. It is the biggest in the country’s history.