Real Estate Office space supply in Switzerland is back to pre-crisis levels

In Switzerland, there were slightly more office vacancies again in the third quarter. A total of 2.1 million square meters of office space was available from July to September.

This corresponds to 4.3 percent of the total office space stock, as announced by real estate consultants CBRE on Friday. This puts the availability of office space back at the same level as before the start of the coronavirus pandemic. At that time, however, only 2.0 million square meters of office space were available to rent.

According to the press release, the increase is primarily attributable to the suburbs and outskirts of the five largest Swiss cities of Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern and Lausanne. Almost one in ten office square meters was still available there in the third quarter.

In the cities themselves, availability stood at 3.5 percent. And it has fallen in the year to date - unlike in peripheral locations. "This underlines the trend in demand towards central locations, while in suburban communities the abandonment of commercial space in older office and commercial buildings in favor of modern, well-developed space and the home office effect continues," CBRE explains this development.

The vacant bank space in Zurich's city center has been well absorbed, according to the report. The availability rate in Switzerland's largest city was 3.1 percent, in the city center even 2.4 percent. On the other hand, there was a "competitive supply situation" in the Limmat Valley with 8.1 percent and in the airport region with 14.8 percent vacant office space.

SDA