House prices rising, Ticino has seen the biggest increase

Home ownership continues to be an attractive option in Switzerland and prices continue to rise. The trend also affects Ticino, where the cost of apartments has risen higher annually than in any other area of the country.

During the first quarter, the cost of single-family homes rose by 1.2% nationwide compared to the previous three months, while the price of apartments experienced a smaller increase of 0.2%, reveals the Raiffeisen transaction price index.

On a year-on-year basis the increase is much more significant at 9.5% and 6.6% respectively, the third largest Swiss banking group announced in a statement today. Consequently, the dynamic has somewhat weakened in recent months, although single-family homes remain in high demand.

«Due to the recent significant increase in mortgage interest rates and the restrictive equity and accessibility requirements, which are restricting the circle of buyers more and more, we expect the price dynamics in the market for owner-occupied residential properties to further weaken,» says Martin Neff, chief economist at Raiffeisen.

In comparison with the previous year, the price increases for single-family homes were mainly in the Lake Geneva region (+15.3%), Central Switzerland (+12.5%) and Eastern Switzerland (+12.5%), which includes Graubünden, and Ticino (+10.9%), while the lowest increase was in the Bern area (+4.0%). Broadening the view over the last five years, the average annual increase was 3.3% in Ticino and 6.3% in Eastern Switzerland, with the highest value recorded in the Lake Geneva region (5.9%) and the average for the whole of the Confederation at 5.3%.

In terms of condominium properties (PPPs), the strongest price growth over the past year is recorded in Ticino, at 10.5%, ahead of Central Switzerland (+9.2%) and Lake Geneva (+9.0%). Eastern Switzerland is at 5.1%. The figure for the south of the Alps can be correlated with the dynamism shown throughout the country by municipalities with a tourist vocation, which registered +15.7%. Over the last five years, however, the annual increase in Ticino (+3.5%) is lower than the Swiss average (+3.8%).