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The other issue of ever increasing house prices going unchecked, is shown in Switzerland, it works great for the rich, not so good for the apirational.

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/in-this-country-most-people-rent-for-life-is-that-what-we-should-all-do-20231111-p5ej85.html[/URL]

From the article:

At a time when young people in places like coastal California, New York and London cannot see a path to buying a home, Switzerland offers the world a glimpse of a post-ownership society. Around 36 per cent of the Swiss own their homes or apartments, the lowest rate in the West and well below the 70 per cent average in the European Union and the 67 per cent in the United States and in Australia. While many young Swiss people say they see positives in a lifetime of renting – mostly, avoiding the hassles and commitments of homeownership – they admit feeling resentful that they don’t have a choice.

 The median net worth of a Swiss homeowner in their 30s is six times higher than that of a renter of the same age. And the wealth gap only widens with age. In their 70s, Swiss homeowners are 11 times wealthier than renters their age, according to a study by Ursina Kuhn at the Swiss Foundation for Research in Social Sciences in Lausanne.

The catch is that in order to become a homeowner, “you need wealth to get more wealth,” as Kuhn put it.

Martin Hoesli, a professor at the University of Geneva who has studied Swiss homeownership for decades, said that even though the math favours homeownership in the long run, many Swiss cannot afford a deposit, which by law is a minimum of 20 per cent of the purchase price. Add to that the 4 per cent in transfer costs, and the minimum deposit for the average-priced house – currently $2.9 million, according to Wüest Partner — is $526,000.

That’s a daunting number for This Schälchli, 37, who owns a hole-in-the-wall cafe at a busy intersection in Zurich. Schälchli serves more than 200 cups of coffee a day, he said, but the revenue barely allows him to pay the $3300 a month for his one-bedroom apartment, which he shares with his girlfriend and their infant son.

“I’m at zero at the end of the month,” Schälchli said of his personal finances. He doesn’t dare dream of owning his own place. “The amount of money you spend in a lifetime in rent – it’s absolutely crazy,” he said. “But there’s no obvious solution for me right now. My family has no cash. I think I’ll be renting for the rest of my life.”

Until recently, Hollenstein, the psychologist, thought the same, but for different reasons. Renting has its advantages here: landlords are restricted from raising rents without cause, like a rise in interest rates or renovation. It also allows people to live in more desirable areas. Hollenstein, 41, rents a beautiful apartment in downtown Zurich, the heart of a well-preserved medieval city.

“You don’t have to take care of the building,” she said. “If the heating doesn’t work, you just put in a call. It’s not yours.”

But things changed four years ago when she and her partner had their first child and realised they wanted a more permanent nest. They found a 139-square-metre house east of Zurich, 25 minutes away by train, for $3.6 million and plan on moving in after they finish renovating the place. The house, Hollenstein said, “is pretty – and pretty boring.”