Asking rents take a breather in May

Compared to the previous month, advertised rents rose by 0.2 percent, bringing the index to 133.7 points, as Homegate reported on Thursday. Over the course of the year, the increase in advertised rents across Switzerland thus amounts to 2.5 percent.

The sharpest increases in advertised rents compared to the previous month were in Appenzell (+2.1 percent), Graubünden (+1.8 percent), and the cantons of Schwyz and Schaffhausen, each up 1.1 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, advertised rents in Nidwalden fell by 1.8 percent.

Largest increase

However, this does not change the fact that rents in the Central Swiss canton saw the largest year-over-year increase at 7.7 percent. This was followed by Graubünden (+5.9 percent) and Uri (+5.8 percent).

Looking at individual cities, advertised rents in Lugano reached a new all-time high in May 2026. There, advertised rents climbed by 1.7 percent compared to the previous month and by 4.5 percent compared to the previous year. This is surpassed only by the city of Lucerne (+7.2 percent).

The rental index for asking rents is compiled by the real estate marketplace Homegate in collaboration with the Zurich Cantonal Bank (ZKB). It measures the monthly, quality-adjusted change in rental prices for new and re-let apartments based on current market listings.