You probably have heard it said that Switzerland is a country of tenants, and increasingly so: while 20 years ago, 60 percent of households in Switzerland could still afford to purchase property, today the percentage of people owning a house or an apartment valued at 880,000 francs or more dropped to merely 15 percent.

It all comes down to money: real estate is so expensive because Switzerland is a small country and there is little land on which to construct new dwellings — therefore, demand outstrips the supply, which drives the prices upwards.

This is also one of the reasons why ‘poorer’ countries have a higher proportion of home ownership — the land is more abundant there and, in some places at least, building standards and materials used are not as regulated by law as in Switzerland.

At the same time, a curious phenomenon is happening in Switzerland: if you have been following the real estate market, you know that many new homes and apartments are sold out even before their construction is finished.

In other words, people ‘jump’ at whatever properties are being built, before they are put up for sale.

Does this mean that there are enough people around who have adequate means to afford a home? 

And if so, how long did they have to work and save money to find themselves in this enviable financial position?

There is no one standard answer to this question, though there are some general guidelines (read more about them below).

It pretty much depends on three factors: the person’s salary, savings, and the geographical location where they want to buy.

Obviously, if you are looking in or just around major in-demand areas like Zurich or Geneva, you will have to work longer, and dig deeper into your pockets, to afford even a small property there.
 
But if you are ready to settle farther away from cities, then you will find real estate a bit more affordable — provided, of course, that you have a decent income and enough money put aside to use as a down payment (which in Switzerland is typically 20 percent of the total cost, with the rest being mortgaged).

How long do you have to work, on average, to be able to buy a house or an apartment?
 
According to Swiss real estate specialist IAZI, you would need to spend around 8.8 annual salaries to buy a 70-square-metre apartment.

IAZI calculated the price of the ‘average’ apartment to be 778,000 francs and the buyer’s gross annual income, 88,000 francs.

This is what it looks like on paper. However, in reality, “hardly anyone lives in the ‘average’ place,” said Donato Scognamiglio, IAZI’s real estate expert.

Still, IAZI provides some indication about how long someone earning 88,000 francs a year and looking to buy a 70 sq/m flat costing about 778.000 francs, would have to work to buy in various Swiss communities.

(As you can see, the smaller and / or more remote the community, the more affordable real estate is there):

• Faido (a village in Ticino): 3 years
• Biel / BIenne: 6.8 years
• Solothurn: 7.4 years
• Schaffhausen: 7.6 years
• Baden: 8.7 years
• Bolligen BE: 8.8 years (Swiss average)
• St. Gallen: 10.2 years
• Winterthur: 12 years
• Bern: 14.5 years
• Basel: 15.9 years
• Zug: 20 years
• Geneva: 24 years
• Zurich: 27 years

Of course, if you earn more than 88,000 francs a year (as many people in Switzerland do), your ‘wait time’ will be shorter.

READ ALSO: Why renters in Switzerland still struggle to buy an apartment