Greüzi, With the “10-Millionen-Schweiz” (Sustainability Initiative) referendum having just wrapped up, I’ve been reading a lot of discussions about how immigration impacts the Swiss housing market. A common talking point from the pro-referendum side is that developers are building too many overpriced luxury apartments because there is a massive demand from wealthy foreigners driving up the market. As an expat living here, I want to share my actual experience from house hunting in November/December last year, because the reality on the ground is the exact opposite: Many of us don’t want luxury housing. We are systematically forced into it. My Profile on Paper : I am a physiotherapist from a third-world country. By the time I started looking for a new place, I had been in Switzerland for over two years. -I speak the language actually two of national languages french and german. -I make nearly CHF 100,000/year because I specialize in a highly specific niche in physiotherapy. -I have a flawless Betreibungsauszug and excellent reference letters from my last two Vermieter plus a credit worthness report from Crif AG.
- i don‘t smoke nor i play an instrument or i have a Dog On paper, I am an ideal, highly qualified tenant. The Market Split: St. Gallen (Zürichsee region) I was looking for an apartment in the region of Schmerikon, Gommiswald, Kaltbrunn Uznach Benken etc… Even though it was the end of the year, platforms like Flatfox and Homegate had plenty of listings. However, a glaring pattern emerged immediately: The Affordable Market (CHF 1,300 – 1,700) for 2.5: Every time I applied, it was an instant rejection. When I went to the Besichtigungen , there were routinely 5 to 10 people packed into the flat. As a foreigner, I stood absolutely zero chance of being picked over local Swiss applicants, regardless of my clean record and high income. The Luxury Market (CHF 2,500 – 3,000+)1.5 to2.5: These apartments were sitting on the market for months. No one wanted them because they were charging Zurich city prices in somewhat rural St. Gallen municipalities. When I applied to these, landlords replied enthusiastically within hours. Bias… Out of pure desperation and running out of time, I was forced to take a ,luxury‘ 2.5 64m2 for CHF 2,150 (plus a Tiefgarage parking spot, pushing my total housing costs close to CHF 2,500) in the municipality of Eschenbach. The home is fantastic Menergie Lüftung vzug appliances etc., but let’s be honest that is an absurd amount of money for that location. During my search, I actually spoke with a local property owner who candidly told me(he showed me also proof): " Foreigners only mess up my apartments in my 10 years of renting. I only want to rent to Swiss people not that they are better but they have something to lose he said. " While property owners have the legal right to choose their tenants, this mindset exposes a massive flaw in the political narrative surrounding Swiss housing: Everyone wants affordable housing. Swiss applicants easily snap up the mid-tier apartments because local landlords heavily prefer them. This leaves qualified foreigners with only one viable option: the overpriced luxury apartments that locals refuse to rent. TL;DR The political narrative claims that foreigners are coming in and driving up rents by demanding luxury builds. In reality, landlord bias gatekeeps the affordable market . We end up paying CHF 2,500+ in a Dorf without a Bahnhof not out of a desire for luxury, but because it’s the only segment of the market where landlords are desperate enough to accept an Ausländer. I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially from anyone else who has hunted for housing outside the major city centers. Edit: some misspelling Edit 2 : some of those apartments the refused were still online for months . And some people didnt got my point i‘m trying to make i live in a small DORF where supply from the looks of it i decent and stable where a similar 2.5 with less standards but with dishwasher and own washing machine are around 1.5 til 1.7k submitted by /u/Chakib_BEN
Originally posted by u/Chakib_BEN on r/Switzerland