Report on home moving in Switzerland in 2020

Basel, 28 September 2021. Every year, more than 450,000 households move home in Switzerland - equivalent to around 10 per cent of the country's population. So, what motivates people in Switzerland to leave their old home and find a new one? To find the answers, Baloise subsidiary MOVU AG has once again analysed how and why the Swiss move home. Its 2020 report was produced in partnership with Swiss Post.

Switzerland is constantly on the move - even in pandemic-hit 2020. Some 451,884 Swiss households moved home last year. That is a total of 701,664 people leaving one address for another. But not all age brackets are as likely to move as others. Around half of those who moved home in 2020 were between 18 and 40 years old. Once people are over 40, their tendency to move home drops significantly.

St. Gallen a popular place for moving
The analysis of moving activity among people from towns and cities is particularly illuminating: the towns of St. Gallen, Winterthur and Fribourg, for example, recorded the strongest home-moving flows in 2020. And, as with Switzerland's other larger towns and cities, these locations registered more people moving away than coming in. Major towns such as Winterthur, St. Gallen and Chur recorded the most new arrivals last year. Despite the trend of people moving away from towns and cities, these particular locations remained very attractive for the home-moving market. Urban centres are also more likely to have a greater number of one-person households than households with multiple people.

March the most popular month for moving
People move throughout the year. The months of March, June, July and September had the highest number of recorded moves in 2020. Top overall was - once again - March, with 67,241 people moving during the month. February, May and December were the weakest months in terms of the number of moves. A total of 48,121 people moved home during December, which was the most unpopular month for moving due to the holiday season.

Switzerland still a nation of renters
The data gathered shows that renting is still the most common form of tenure in Switzerland. The survey revealed, for example, that there was a slight rise in the proportion of the younger generation (under 30s) moving into a rental property - presumably as a result of them leaving the parental home. The opposite trend was evident among the middle age bracket (30 to 49 years), where the proportion of people moving into a purchased property increased. In the older age bracket (50+), the respective proportions of people moving into purchased and rental properties were more or less unchanged.

The desire for more living space
The report found that the most common reason for moving home was a desire for more living space, which was cited by 31 per cent of the survey participants. 25 per cent gave changes in their family situation as a reason for moving and for 16 per cent it was to leave their parental home. 
In the 30 to 49 age bracket, a change in the amount of space needed (usually more space) was the most common reason for moving. Among the movers aged 50 plus, however, a significantly higher number of respondents indicated that they were looking to downsize. In the under 30 age bracket, leaving the parental home was the primary motivation for moving, whether because of starting a new job or going away to study or train.

People of the younger generation are the most relaxed movers
The closer it gets to moving day, the more people's stress levels rise. However, there are some variances across the age brackets. Overall, 43 per cent of respondents said that they had found their move stressful. However, movers aged under 30 reported slightly lower stress levels than older generations. This may be because many of them were moving out of their parental home and so had less time pressure and probably fewer belongings to take with them.

MOVU AG, part of Baloise 's Home ecosystem
As our lives become increasingly digital and complex, people are looking for simple solutions. MOVU AG, which is part of Baloise 's Home ecosystem, provides people moving home with a secure and guaranteed process for selecting removal companies and cleaning firms. Then, when it comes to the move itself, customers benefit from Baloise 's removals insurance, which provides new-for-old cover for any furniture that is damaged. MOVU, which is based in Zurich and was acquired by Baloise in 2017, is Switzerland's biggest home-moving services platform. Since being founded in May 2014, it has helped more than 50,000 customers move home. 

Contact
Baloise Group, Aeschengraben 21, 4002 Basel, Switzerland
Website: www.baloise.com
Email: media.relations@baloise.com / investor.relations@baloise.com
Media Relations: Tel: +41 (0)58 285 7609
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The Baloise Group is more than just a traditional insurance company. The changing security, safety and service needs of society in the digital age lie at the heart of its business activities. The approximately 7,700 employees of Baloise therefore focus on the wishes of their customers. The best possible customer service, combined with innovative products and services, makes Baloise the first choice for people who want to feel simply safe. Located at the heart of Europe, with its head office in Basel, the Baloise Group is a provider of prevention, pension, assistance and insurance solutions. Its core markets are Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. In Switzerland, with Baloise Bank SoBa, the Group also operates as a specialised financial services provider, offering a combination of insurance and banking services. The Group offers innovative pension products to private customers throughout Europe from its competence centre in Luxembourg. The shares of Bâloise Holding Ltd are listed in the main segment of SIX Swiss Exchange.