Flat hunting: why the results list does not show everything

Set up a search subscription, open listings, send an application: much of the flat hunt can be done on screen. But the results list is not a complete picture of the market. A tip from an acquaintance, or a municipality's own allocation process, can open a different route. And even an apartment that is publicly visible is far from equally reachable for everyone.

A Comparis survey published on 17 September provides figures: 44 percent of respondents found their current home through a property portal, 27 percent through family, friends, work colleagues or acquaintances. Innofact surveyed 1,038 adults in all Swiss regions in August 2026 on behalf of Comparis.

The survey, described as representative, covers tenants and owners. It asks retrospectively about the current home, not only about moves made this year. The figures are therefore neither market shares of today's rental allocation nor success rates of individual applications. Comparis runs a property listing service itself; its role as commissioner should be kept in mind when interpreting the results.

A thin selection remains the core problem

Independent official data show the pressure under which the search takes place. On 1 June 2026, the Federal Statistical Office counted 45,493 vacant dwellings across Switzerland. That was 0.93 percent of the housing stock, down from 1.00 percent a year earlier. Of these, 34,690 dwellings stood empty and were offered for rent – 6.7 percent fewer than a year before.

This vacancy count is a snapshot taken on a single reference date. It does not count every dwelling that changes household over the course of a year. A dwelling that has already been rented can be reoccupied seamlessly and then does not appear as vacant. Conversely, an empty apartment somewhere in Switzerland says little about whether it fits the budget and commute of a person searching.

The national figure therefore describes the tightness of supply, not an individual's chance of a contract. The longer-term link between scarcity and rent trends is also set out in our analysis of the Swiss housing market of 8 September.

Visibility alone does not create equal chances

The fact that a listing can be found by anyone does not guarantee equal treatment. A field study supported by the Federal Office for Housing sent more than 11,000 enquiries from fictitious prospective tenants to real housing providers in 2018. Names and other characteristics were systematically varied.

People with Turkish or Kosovar names received an invitation to a viewing less often than those with Swiss names. The report published in 2019 documents an access barrier in the study conducted at that time. It measures neither how often this happens today nor the subsequent award of contracts. Precisely this limitation makes an important distinction visible: whoever finds a listing does not yet have the same chances of viewing or obtaining the apartment.