Do you want to buy a cheap apartment in Switzerland? Everything is possible, but in 20 years
There is an extreme shortage of real estate in Switzerland, while demand for it is growing. But in just 23 years, everything could change.
Over the past decade, real estate prices in Switzerland have risen significantly: it happened because of the lack of housing in the most popular cities. In Bern and Zurich, for example, the vacancy rate is 0.5% and 0.17% respectively. The governments of most cantons talk about these low rates as an «official shortage of housing.» In the long term, however, things may not be so dismal.
In its new study, Credit Suisse suggests that by 2045 up to 40% of real estate in Switzerland will be for sale. The fact is that about 419,000 homes in this Alpine country belong to the baby boomer generation — people who were born between 1946 and 1964. And experts conclude that as they retire, there will be more vacant space: many retirees prefer to sell their homes or swap them for a smaller square footage to reduce the amount of cost and effort to maintain them.
Consequently, it is expected that there will be much more housing offers, and therefore the prices will become more affordable. In any case, even if these predictions come true, we will have to wait.
