How Expensive Is Zurich Housing?
Key Takeaways:
- The value of 1 m² of property in Zurich could buy 14 m² in Chiang Mai, 6.8 m² in Athens, or 2.8 m² in San Francisco.
- Only Zug and Hong Kong are more expensive per square meter among the 60 cities compared.
- Across much of Europe, Zurich’s benchmark buys several times more space, including 5.2 m² in Porto and 4.6 m² in Graz.
This visualization by Valerii Emelianov compares city-center property prices using data from Numbeo’s Property Price Index and the Swiss Federal Statistical Office.
Zurich serves as the benchmark, with each city showing how many square meters the value of 1 m² in Zurich could purchase there.
How Much More Space Can You Buy Outside Zurich?
The comparison converts the value of one square meter in Zurich into the equivalent floor space that money could purchase elsewhere.
Here is the complete city comparison based on the data compiled.
| City | Square Meters Bought per 1 m² Sold in Zurich |
|---|---|
 Chiang Mai |
14.0 |
 Cape Town |
11.5 |
 Buenos Aires |
10.4 |
 Las Palmas |
8.5 |
| Phuket |
7.7 |
 Larnaca |
7.2 |
 Thessaloniki |
7.1 |
| Athens |
6.8 |
 Kuala Lumpur |
6.8 |
| Alicante |
6.4 |
 Naples |
5.8 |
| Verona |
5.6 |
| Malaga |
5.4 |
 Dresden |
5.4 |
 Porto |
5.2 |
 Marseille |
5.2 |
| Leipzig |
5.1 |
| Limassol |
5.0 |
 Graz |
4.6 |
| Bangkok |
4.5 |
| Florence |
4.3 |
| Lyon |
4.2 |
| Palma de Mallorca |
4.0 |
 Dubai |
3.9 |
 Miami |
3.9 |
| Stuttgart |
3.8 |
 Split |
3.8 |
| Los Angeles |
3.8 |
| Nice |
3.7 |
| Freiburg |
3.6 |
| Barcelona |
3.6 |
| Lisbon |
3.5 |
| Cologne |
3.5 |
 Auckland |
3.4 |
| Frankfurt |
3.3 |
 Toronto |
3.2 |
| Rome |
3.2 |
| Berlin |
3.1 |
| Vancouver |
3.1 |
| Madrid |
3.0 |
| Salzburg |
3.0 |
| San Francisco |
2.8 |
| Hamburg |
2.7 |
| Innsbruck |
2.6 |
| Milan |
2.5 |
| Sydney |
2.1 |
| Munich |
2.1 |
| Vienna |
1.9 |
| Paris |
1.8 |
 Lugano |
1.5 |
| Basel |
1.5 |
| New York |
1.5 |
 London |
1.4 |
 Tel Aviv |
1.3 |
| Geneva |
1.2 |
 Singapore |
1.19 |
 Seoul |
1.01 |
| Zurich |
1.0 |
 Hong Kong |
0.98 |
| Zug |
0.87 |
Even major European cities look inexpensive by comparison. The value of 1 m² in Zurich buys 3.1 m² in Berlin, 3.0 m² in Madrid, and 1.8 m² in Paris.
Why Is Zurich Real Estate So Expensive?
A major factor behind Zurich’s high prices is limited housing supply. UBS reported a city apartment vacancy rate of just 0.10% in 2025, while lengthy approval processes and limited urban land constrain new supply.
High incomes also support housing demand, while Switzerland’s elevated labor costs feed into construction and other labor-intensive services. Zurich’s status as a major financial and business center adds further pressure. The result is a market where 1 m² is worth roughly five times as much as in Bangkok and nearly seven times as much as in Athens.
Do Higher Wages Make Up for It?
Partially. Deutsche Bank’s global price research places Zurich among cities with exceptionally high salaries, helping residents absorb higher everyday costs. Yet housing remains a pressure point: in the 2026 IMD Smart City survey, 82.4% of Zurich respondents identified affordable housing as a priority.
That tension exists alongside strong quality-of-life indicators. Zurich ranked first in the 2026 Smart City Index, even as affordable housing remained residents’ most frequently identified priority. Broader shifts in real estate ownership across generations show how housing affordability has become a wider concern.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To explore how Switzerland’s prosperity compares with its European peers, see Luxembourg, Ireland, and Switzerland are Europe’s Richest Countries on the Voronoi app.
