The inflation rate in Europe remains the same as the first quarter of 2024, around 3%. This is good news for a stable regional economy overall, but because the demand for housing in key corporate relocation markets continues to grow with limited options for additional supply, price increases are expected across all major destinations.
In the global gateway cities where corporate relocation activity tends to occur, local renters, students, other immigrants, and corporate transfers are all competing for limited rental housing stock. Additionally, in Paris, most short-term rental units beside 5-star accommodations are currently booked up ahead of the 2024 Olympics.
Finding a place to rent with the help of a Dwellworks expert increases the chances of securing exactly what any relocating employee or extended stay traveler is looking for, thanks to our local and regional on-the-ground presence and our ability to plan for trends based on years of experience. Start here to find information on a particular city’s rental trends and then reach out for our award-winning help with relocation home search and destination services.
There is an incremental increase in availability here compared to the past few years, as landlords are decreasing the asking rent on excess inventory in their higher-end properties. However, entry level units are still scarce, with overall vacancy in Dublin at near zero.
More economic growth is expected in Ireland overall in 2024, and the government is under pressure to support more affordable housing for its citizens. Alternative locations like Cork, Limerick, and Galway are seeing an increase in corporate moves, but housing options are limited in these smaller markets. The best options may be suburban housing, though lower prices and more spacious properties are typically seen in locations with more limited public transportation.
The UK economy overall is slowly recovering from inflationary impacts, especially in energy costs, and London continues to boom as a magnet for early career/young professional renters. Even with the demographic demand, economists expect the stabilization trend in the rate of rent increases to continue through this year. With the average rental rate around 2650 GBP ($3,200 US), prices are not falling but are also not increasing at the rate from 2 years ago.
New construction is also on the rise, with “build to let” units adding more high-density housing across London. However, availability will remain competitive as London is a global hot spot for global talent on assignment.
The tone in Amsterdam continues to rise in favor of social housing for local residents, which is not good news for the inventory available on the private market for residents and expatriates alike. In the past few years, landlords and rental property managers left the market due to regulatory constraints and there are 50% fewer units available now than in 2020. The vacancy rate for privately-managed buildings is at just 2%. This also means remaining landlords make no exceptions for renters with special requests or delayed decisions and are diligent in ensuring compliance with rental qualifications.
Rental units also remain in short supply in Amsterdam’s suburbs and in Rotterdam, Den Hague, Utrecht, and Eindhoven. In all markets, landlords continue to require a minimum of 3x, and sometimes 4x, the rent in gross monthly salary to qualify as a tenant.
Though inflation and interest rates are lower in Luxembourg versus the recent past, the rental housing vacancy rate is less than 3% because of the fixed housing supply. Corporate operations continue to be attracted to this stable, prosperous, and well-managed economy, but the current state of the housing market is also a limitation to expansion.
With the limited housing stock and few renters moving on to purchase homes or start new rental contracts, expect no landlord negotiation on strict rental terms as well as requests for deposits equal to 3 months’ rent.
For another quarter, Germany sees no change on the horizon for rental housing availability, despite high governmental awareness of the very low supply of affordable housing. Each of the cities where we manage high volumes of corporate mobility are seeing less than 2% availability, as Germany remains a preferred corporate relocation hub, but new construction is low due to the cost of building, land, and regulatory oversight. Landlords are not flexing on pricing and terms. Smaller market cities like Dresden, Magdeburg, Guben, Cottbus and Wismar offer lower prices, but with limited inventory.
The Paris Olympics are now right around the corner! This means nearly all short-term housing/temporary accommodations are booked up except for units at premium prices. Even without the games, Paris continues to see greater demand than supply. High mortgage rates are mostly to blame for renters staying put and no new inventory is being added to the market. Rental rates are capped in some areas, disincentivizing new investments, and a number of apartments are being retrofitted to meet France’s goals of lower carbon emissions.
While excitement is building locally for the Olympics showcase, we recommend all corporate activity be planned for before or after the timing of the events. For more information on the short and long-term rental market in Paris and the impact of the Olympics, including a brand new interview with one of our corporate housing partners in London and Paris, The Ascott Limited, click here.
Home to several universities with outstanding technical reputations and thousands of engineers and developers, Zurich remains at the top of the innovation game. With its growing popularity comes more expensive average rental rates. Vacancy remains at around 4% and home search is always competitive as the large majority of Swiss nationals are also renters.
Large, multi-family buildings are rare in Zurich, so many families are advised to look to the suburbs and the area’s reliable and extensive transportation system to meet their needs. Companies are advised to book assignees into a short-term rental to get familiar with their housing options before committing to a waiting for a long-term purchase.
It’s rare to see a city thriving without serious disruption in a world of economic and political challenges, but Vienna continues to be a highly desirable destination for many. Its cultural amenities, ease of transportation, excellent schools with good availability, family-friendly housing, and forward-looking government planning make the city among the best places to live in the world.
It is worth noting that in Austria, private rental real estate agents are ‘paid by those who hire them’ and landlords will add the cost of brokerage fees to the rent if the landlord is paying the broker’s fee.
Continue checking back to our blog and social media for housing market updates every quarter. We also put out quarterly corporate housing market reports you can access here. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to get them and other industry news right to your inbox.
Dwellworks is the world’s largest provider of destination-related services and temporary living solutions for the globally mobile workforce and business travelers. We provide business-to-business solutions for Fortune 1000 and emerging companies directly and through their relocation management partners. Whether a company needs to relocate its employees across the world or the country, we provide a range of support services to help employees and their families transition successfully from their home location to a new destination.
Dwellworks operates according to our core values of Integrity, Teamwork, Performance, Innovation, and Fun. These are the root of everything we do – from the Teamwork aspect of sourcing and supporting our helpful local Consultants to assist any relocating employee in hundreds of cities worldwide with their move, to the Integrity of our highly-trained Intercultural experts who are here to help transferees adjust to new cultures and confidently settle into their destination locations, to the Innovation of our myDwellworks technology platform that familiarizes employees on assignment with their destination and enables customized conversations on properties, schools, and situation-specific needs.
Dwellworks supports the diversity of our clients’ globally mobile workforce with personalized destination solutions in 16 countries, covering major relocation markets. Dwellworks has consistently responded to the mobility services and needs of our global clients. In 2020, Dwellworks launched Dwellworks Living to expand our original portfolio of corporate housing markets into a full-service corporate housing operation, offering alternative accommodations for relocation and business travel customers in 125 countries. Our full-service real estate brokerage, Station Cities, supports home rentals, sales, and purchases in the Tri-State New York area and Chicago. Visit our homepage, learn about our services, and read our blogs to learn how we can help with your relocation and business travel needs.