Swiss real estate experts see continued high demand for residential property. By contrast, office and commercial space continues to decline. Residential rents are showing an upward trend.

Every year, the Swiss Homeowners' Association (HEV) surveys real estate experts throughout Switzerland on the current state of the real estate market and their expectations for the coming year. They report a slightly weaker demand for residential property compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, almost 70% registered an increase in prices for condominiums during the past 12 months. 40% of the experts surveyed expect prices for condominiums to rise or rise sharply in the coming 12 months; half even believe that prices in the single-family home segment will continue to rise. According to the HEV, the reason for the expected price increases in the owner-occupied housing segment - despite the slight decline in the strong excess demand - is to be found in the significant rise in building land prices over the past few years.

Vacancy rates fall and residential rents rise

Nearly 40% of the experts see vacancy rates declining somewhat this year; half see a nationwide increase in residential rents (asking rents) in the coming 12 months.

Prices for office and commercial space remain under pressure

In the area of office and retail space, the situation has not improved compared with last year. While the decline in demand has slowed slightly compared with the previous year, especially in central locations, demand and trading volumes in medium-sized cities and in agglomeration communities have continued to shrink. 53% of experts also expect gross yields to decline and 67% expect prices per square meter for office and retail space to fall or even fall sharply. More than 80% of respondents also expect new construction activity to decline in 2023. The effects of the pandemic home office boom are still not leading to any easing in this area.

Annual HEV real estate survey has tradition

Every fall since the 1980s, HEV Schweiz has conducted a survey of real estate trustees, brokers, analysts, administrators and investors. The data represent one of the longest available time series on the Swiss real estate market and thus form an exciting basis for comparisons on price trends. Over 240 experts from all regions of Switzerland took part in this year's survey. In French-speaking Switzerland, the data was collected in collaboration with the Fédération Romande Immobilière (FRI) and the Chambre Genevoise Immobilière (CGI). Fahrländer Partner (FPRE) condensed the results of the HEV survey with its own data and used them to calculate a price expectations index, which is also published.