Why is housing so hard to come by anyways? I'm just curious.. it would seem like someone would rise to fill that need if people are literally standing in line to be interviewed for the chance to rent a place.
In my city, the average family income is about $60k but housing is expensive to buy. One-bedroom condo's start at $200k so a lot of people rent. Unfortunately, since developers can earn so much by selling units instead of renting them, they all veer towards that.
I'm sure rent control plays a factor too. Rent can only be increased by 3% per year or something like that.
End result, there hasn't been a new building built for rental apartments in my city for over 30 years.
Seems like unless there's a constant influx of people, eventually everyone that wants to buy a condo will end up with one... leaving a lot of built-up condos ready to sell, with nobody buying. Wonder how long it'll take.
Renting regulations are pretty notorious in Switzerland. There seems to be a rule for everything & it is notoriously hard to get rid of a bad renter. Also, as a foreigner, it is often difficult to acquire property in certain kantons.
If I had to guess I'd say the demand is for "housing within N kilometers of point X" and there is nowhere left to build housing in that area, whether because of physical constraints or legal/regulatory constraints (e.g. can't get a permit to demolish that block and put up a dense high rise).
(Edit for non-USA-ian units, since we were talking about Geneva.)
I'm sure rent control plays a factor too. Rent can only be increased by 3% per year or something like that.
End result, there hasn't been a new building built for rental apartments in my city for over 30 years.