Condominium sales take longer
Condominiums are less in demand, according to the latest "Online Home Market Analysis" (OHMA) by Homegate and the Swiss Real Estate Institute of the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich.
"However, in-depth analyses of individual regions and cities show strong regional differences in supply, demand and price levels," said Prof. Dr. Peter Ilg, Head of the Swiss Real Estate Institute on September 27 when presenting the OHMA figures to media representatives. Across Switzerland, around 67,600 condominiums were offered on internet platforms in the reporting period from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017. This represents an increase in supply of around three percent compared to the previous year.
The average time taken to advertise a condominium, on the other hand, rose by eleven days to 103 days. This disproportionate increase in the insertion period, with a plus of twelve percent, indicates a decreasing demand for condominiums, according to Ilg. The analysis of the individual regions and cities shows that the "markets in German-speaking Switzerland have relaxed massively in some cases," while demand for condominiums is picking up again in Ticino and the Geneva region. In the Zurich region, a buyer for a condominium could be found after an average of 74 days, according to OHMA. In eastern Switzerland, it took an average of 119 days to sell.
Geneva condominiums most expensive
The cheapest condominiums could be purchased in St. Gallen and Bern: on average for CHF 6,100 and CHF 6,500/sqm, respectively. According to OHMA, the most had to be spent in the cities of Geneva and Zurich: CHF 13,500 and CHF 12,100/sqm, respectively. An average apartment with 4.5 rooms and 120 sqm of living space thus cost 780,000 (Bern), 807,000 (St. Gallen), 1.365 million (Zurich) and 1.49 million (Geneva).
Ilg also notes that small, inexpensive condominiums sold fastest during the period under review. In almost all the cities surveyed, properties with one to two-and-a-half rooms offered for less than 500,000 had the shortest insertion period. Larger, more expensive apartments usually had to be advertised for considerably longer.
- Further results of the current "Online Home Market Analysis" can also be found in the 248th Schweizer Immobilienbrief, which will be published on October 24, 2017.
