Swiss Property Market Looking Stronger
News Posted On: 01 September 2011
The Swiss property market is going from strength to strength, with growth being reported in sales, rental values and construction starts. Many economists put the growth down to economic expansion, increased demand for housing and low interest rates.
However there are worries that the strength of the Swiss franc could stifle growth as costs increase and inflation rises. The Swiss government has recognised the risk and taken measures to address it, including steps to make the market more open to foreign buyers.
The prices of owner occupied apartments increased by 5.08% year-on-year to the first quarter of 2011, while the price of a single family homes increased by 4.37%, and apartment rents increased by 1.44%.
Between the years of 2000 and 2010, the prices of single family homes in Switzerland increased by 35.9%, and apartment rents increased by 35.8%.
Construction has also been strong, with over 40,000 new apartments completed last year, a 3.9% increase on the previous year -- though still lower than the running average of 42,000 between 2006 and 2008.
The Swiss market is doing well, and experts put this down to several factors. The main reason according to experts is increased immigrants in the last few year increasing demand for housing. However, they also put it down to the fact that Switzerland is viewed as a safe-haven, and investment in the country has increased because of this. On top of that Interest rates here are still low, and the economy officially emerged from recession in mid-2009, and expanded by 2.55% last year, although growth is predicted to be about 2% this year.
View property for sale in Switzerland
Written by Les Calvert
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