Fewer than one Swiss home in a hundred stood empty this June, a first in fifteen years. Geneva hit its lowest level since 2011, and Vaud remains far from a balanced market.
By the Envergure editorial team
On 1 June 2026, Switzerland had 45,493 empty homes. That is fewer than one in a hundred for the first time in fifteen years, and both Geneva and Vaud sit lower still.
FEDERALThe Swiss housing vacancy rate stood at 0.93% on 1 June 2026, down from 1.00% a year earlier, according to figures reported by imticker.ch. You have to go back fifteen years to find a national rate below 1%.
On paper, the gap between 1.00% and 0.93% looks small. In absolute terms, though, the vacant stock shrank by 2,962 homes in twelve months, a 6.1% drop. For a household looking to move, that means almost three thousand fewer flats and houses to view, spread across the whole country.
ALL CANTONSPart of the answer can be measured in page counts. A Raiffeisen study found that cantonal building laws are on average 26% longer than in 2005, and building ordinances 32% longer.
These texts are set by the cantons, not by the Confederation, and the study reports an average across them. The requirements added over the years cover energy, climate, noise, accessibility and listed buildings. Each one lengthens the permit process and pushes up project costs.
Raiffeisen sees this as a brake on new construction, which makes it one of the forces deepening the shortage described above. A developer filing plans for the same building as twenty years ago now has more than a quarter more regulation to work through.
CANTON OF GENEVAIn Geneva, the vacancy rate reached 0.31% on 1 June 2026, compared with 0.34% the previous year, according to Millenium Properties. The last time it was lower was 2011, when it stood at 0.25%.
Geneva’s rate is a third of the Swiss average. Put plainly, barely more than three homes in every thousand are available in the canton, a level at which every tenant who moves out makes a difference.
CANTON OF VAUDThe canton of Vaud reported 3,907 vacant homes on 1 June 2026, a rate of 0.87%, according to the State of Vaud’s housing observatory. The canton puts the rate for a balanced market at 1.5%, a level it still misses by more than six tenths of a percentage point.
This rate has a direct consequence for landlords in Vaud. In districts officially classed as short of housing, where vacancy stays below 1.5% over time, Vaud law requires approved official forms for any rent increase, any new lease and any termination notice, as the canton’s tenancy law page points out.
This is a rule of Vaud cantonal law. It does not automatically apply to a property located in another canton, even a neighbouring one.
On the sales side, prices are still climbing. According to RealAdvisor, a square metre in Vaud cost CHF 8,931 on average in September 2026, and flats gained more over twelve months than houses did.
| Property type | Average price per m² | Over twelve months |
|---|---|---|
| Flats | CHF 9,159 | +2.7% |
| Houses | CHF 8,673 | +2% |
| Whole canton | CHF 8,931 | not published |
In Vaud, then, a flat still costs more per square metre than a house, by 486 francs, and it is also the segment rising faster.
FEDERALNo. The reference interest rate for tenancies published on 2 September 2026 remains at 1.25%, where it has been since 2 September 2025, according to the Federal Office for Housing and the federal announcement.
The rate is derived from the weighted average interest rate on all Swiss mortgage claims, which stood at 1.31% on 30 June 2026 based on data submitted to the SNB every quarter. That figure is then rounded to the nearest quarter point, which brings 1.31 down to 1.25.
This publication gives no one new grounds to claim a rent increase or a reduction. A lease set on an earlier reference rate of 1.5% or higher does, however, in principle keep its entitlement to a reduction.