ZURICH - Municipal and cooperative housing offices reopened after the break with waiting lists that had not shortened. City vacancy remains near 0.3 percent. Four-room flats in districts 3, 4 and 9 still draw dozens of applications when they appear at all.
New Year moves are a Swiss habit: leases often start on 1 January or 1 April. This year the January cohort found little to choose from. Several cooperatives said they had fewer than ten vacant units across the whole stock.
Rents and the other January bill
Tenant advisers said callers mixed rent questions with the new health premiums. In a tight city those two lines decide whether a family stays inside the Gürtel.