Where vacant dwellings remain, and which ones are on the rail network

A tight market, but not everywhere

The vacancy rate measures the share of the housing stock available to rent or buy on a given date. The Swiss median stands at 0.91 %, a low level: in the median municipality, fewer than one dwelling in a hundred is free. A market is generally considered loose above 2 %.

That average hides two opposite realities. On one side, 196 municipalities have no vacant dwelling at all at the time of the count. On the other, 229 municipalities of at least 1’000 residents exceed the 2 % threshold, sometimes with more than 10 % of the stock available.

Transport changes everything

An available dwelling only helps if it can be reached. Civiora counts the public transport stops in each municipality and flags whether a railway stop is present. Among the 229 looser municipalities, 137 have a station or a halt, which makes them reachable without a car.

Very different situations behind similar rates

Matran, in the canton of Fribourg, has the highest rate in this selection at 10.61 %, but on a stock of only 905 dwellings: that means 96 free dwellings. Chiasso, in Ticino, shows a lower rate but 423 available dwellings on a stock of 5’583.

The rate and the absolute number therefore tell different stories. A high rate in a small municipality may mean a few dozen dwellings, quickly taken. A moderate rate in a larger town may offer more real choice.

What the count does not measure

The survey covers dwellings vacant on one precise date, 1 June. It says nothing about rents, nothing about the condition of the dwellings, and nothing about why they are empty. A high rate may signal a loose market, but also an ageing stock or a town losing its appeal.

Nor does it say anything about how often trains run. The presence of a railway stop indicates a connection, not its intensity: Civiora publishes the number of departures on sample days separately to complete that picture.

Finally, the snapshot is dated 1 June. A count taken on that date does not necessarily match the state of the market in autumn: Swiss leases are most often terminated for the end of March, the end of June or the end of September, which shifts supply through the year. The figures give a ranking between municipalities, not an inventory available today.

Official count by the Federal Statistical Office on 1 June 2025; housing stock from the 2024 buildings and dwellings statistics. The threshold of 1’000 residents excludes very small municipalities, where a handful of dwellings can move the rate by several percentage points. Moutier moved from the canton of Bern to the canton of Jura on 1 January 2026: its vacancy figure predates that change.