The official rates for 1 June 2026
| Area | Vacancy rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 0.93% (45,493 dwellings) | Federal Statistical Office (BFS), 10 September 2026 |
| Canton of Jura | 3.35% | BFS, 10 September 2026 |
| Canton of Geneva | 0.31% | BFS, 10 September 2026 |
| Canton of Zug | 0.20% | BFS, 10 September 2026 |
| Canton of Zurich | 0.52% | Canton of Zurich, 18 August 2026 |
| Winterthur | 0.20% | Canton of Zurich, 18 August 2026 |
| City of Zurich | 0.11% | Canton of Zurich, 18 August 2026 |
| Basel-Stadt | 0.8% (912 dwellings) | Canton of Basel-Stadt, 21 August 2026 |
The Swiss rate has fallen since 2021. Of the 45,493 empty dwellings, 34,690 were offered for rent and 10,803 for sale (BFS).
What the rate measures
The BFS counts dwellings that are habitable, stand empty on 1 June and are offered for permanent rent (at least three months) or for sale. The rate is their share of the whole dwelling stock.
Why few empty flats still mean thousands of adverts
- A flat that is advertised while the tenant still lives in it is not empty, so it is not counted.
- A flat that is let again before it ever stands empty never enters the count.
- The count is one day a year. Adverts come and go all year.
- Adverts are counted per portal: 67,323 rental listings stand for 35,546 different homes, and 60% of the homes are on two or more portals (aptari feed, 9 November 2026).
The practical view
Different homes for rent in the aptari feed on 9 November 2026: Zurich 3,382, Basel 1,184, Bern 693, Lausanne 688, Geneva 654, St. Gallen 509, Lugano 499, Winterthur 394. These are adverts, not official statistics.
aptari puts the rental listings of Homegate, ImmoScout24, Flatfox and about 800 housing cooperative websites into one feed, free and without login. In a market this tight, speed counts: half of the cooperative flats seen in October and early November 2026 were online 4 days or less (aptari, 9 November 2026). Alerts for new listings on saved searches come with Pro, Ultra and the 14-day trial.