Switzerland has seen a decline in the number of households able to afford buying their own homes as prices for apartments and houses continue to rise. Despite being known for being renters, with a low home ownership rate compared to other European countries, only 36 percent of permanently occupied apartments in Switzerland are owned by their occupants. The home ownership rate had been steadily increasing from 1970 to 2015, mainly due to the rise in condominium ownership, but has seen a decline of around 2 percentage points since then.
According to a study by UBS, only 15 percent of Swiss households can afford the “median home” today, compared to 60 percent two decades ago. This “median home” is estimated to cost around 880,000 francs, requiring a household income of 150,000 francs, significantly higher than the median household income of 115,000 francs. The increase in interest rates between 2021 and 2023 has also made homeownership more expensive, with running costs for a condominium purchased for 800,000 francs increasing by 50 percent to