Elderly people in the United States are increasingly coming out of retirement to look for work because of the recession. The need to pay for housing, medical bills and even food is forcing older workers back into the labour market, according to a study by the non-governmental organization Experience Works. Almost half of the 2,000 low-income survey participants over 55 years old need to work to keep their homes, the study says. Experience Works is the “nation’s largest nonprofit provider of community service, training and employment opportunities for older workers,” according to Reuters.
The news agency reports US Department of Labor data as showing that in August 2009 two million people over the age of 55 were looking for work, an increase of 69 percent over August 2008. US News reports a glimmer of hope, however, in noting that the unemployment rate for workers over 55 decreased slightly from June 2009 to July. Unemployment figures do not include people out of the work force, for example retired people, who have decided to look for jobs again. US Bureau of Labor Statistics spotlight on older workers, July 2008
Click on image to view larger (image: Swiss Confederation)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The number of disputes over rents has fallen by more than 8 percent in the past 12 months, the federal government says, based on statistics from courts that handle the disputes. The 16,888 cases in the first six months of 2009 are nevertheless more than in any half-year period since the second half of 2003. A settlement was reached in 47.15 percent of cases. Of these, rent increases were the leading reason for the disputes, followed by leases brought to an end.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Mortgage loans in Switzerland, 40 percent of which are new construction loans, rose by 4.6 percent in July. They had been falling but began to rise after Swiss interest rates moved lower starting in November 2008, says the Swiss National Bank (SNB). Mortgage loans constitute 80 percent of all loans.
Loans other than mortgage loans fell by 1.6 percent in July, however.
Getting harder to find housing in Switzerland
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Housing in Switzerland was even scarcer as of 30 June 2009, with six percent fewer available housing units than a year earlier. Countrywide, there were only 34,760 available units, or 2,360 fewer, and the vacancy rate fell to less than one percent (0.9 percent).
The Zurich metropolitan area and Ticino were the only regions where the housing supply increased. Geneva continues to have the tightest market, 0.22 percent.
Britain’s housing market is getting some relief after prices fell dramatically in mid- to late 2008. Mortgage lender Halifax, which tracks sales nationwide, is showing the fourth straight monthly increase in prices, 0.8 percent, which brings them up to the level seen at the end of 2008. The company says recent rises mean prices have remained relatively stable for 2009, but are now 10.1 percent lower than in August 2008. Prices are climbing faster in some parts of the country, notably London. Times, UK
Geneva's Cointrin Airport
London, England (GenevaLunch) – Second and third place are not so bad, but the coveted first place in the annual Mercer best cities in the world selection was taken by Vienna for 2009 for two simple reasons: housing and “recreation” are better, a Mercer spokeswoman told GenevaLunch Tuesday. The company has received numerous calls from journalists asking if Zurich lost the top slot, which it had in 2008, because of the economic crisis or problems with banking secrecy. Not at all, Mercer insists.
A three-part special on housing and the international population in the Lake Geneva region: part 2
- Nominal GDP in the Lake Geneva region, Wuest & Partner index for aptmts, houses: 1998=100
Rents, Lake Geneva region increases compared to Switzerland, 2007
(Also see part 1:Geneva, Vaud apartment hunters struggle to find a place to call home)
Ed. note: click on images to enlarge
True or false
Rents have climbed continually in the Lake Geneva region
Mostly true, with rent increases outstripping those in the rest of Switzerland since 2002, when the rental market momentarily slipped.
True or false
The sale price of homes has climbed continually in the Lake Geneva region in the past 20 years
Overall, yes, up 179 percent from 1977-2008, but up 30 percent in 30 years in real terms: with cost of living increases taken into account. The increase has not been steady, however, with a big dip in the early 1990s, Swiss-wide, when easier mortgages led to a sudden bubble in prices, which then burst. Stricter rules were put in place: a home-owner’s debt cannot exceed 80 percent of the value of the property.
A three-part special on housing and the international population in the Lake Geneva region: part 1
(Also see part 2: Myth and reality: how housing in the Lake Geneva region adds up)
Geneva, Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland’s population grew by 1.6 percent in 2007, the highest rate since 1963, thanks to immigration fueled by a healthy economy and the country progressively opening up to the Schengen Area free movement of labour, starting in 2002. One result was to put more pressure on the demand for housing, especially in the Lake Geneva region where demand has long been greater than supply.
A new peak in housing demand in 2008 in canton Geneva coincided with new construction falling off, leaving Geneva with an apartment vacancy rate of 0.25 percent on 1 June 2008, the date when national figures are compiled.
Update, 20:25 Tom Daschle withdraws, saying the health job is too big for someone who is a distraction. US President Obama said Tuesday he regrets but accepts Daschle’s withdrawal as the nominee to lead the health department. Tom Daschle has come under fire over his income tax record. Other US appointments, NPR The US Senate 2 February voted for Eric Holder as attorney general, making him the first African-American to hold the key post, and giving him responsibility to decide which prisoners will leave Guantanamo Bay, when and to go where.
Geneva, Switzerland (Le Temps, Fre) – Rémy Pagani on one side, Mark Muller on the other, and let the fight begin: the two Geneva politicians have begun throwing insults, each accusing the other of being responsible for continuing Geneva’s housing crisis.
After years of painfully high prices, the cost of an apartment in New York City is finally starting to fall, reports Reuters. The average apartment in Manhattan costs $1.4 million. While a survey of 20 metropolitan areas from May to October 2008 showed prices falling by 24% Manhattan “defied” the trend and prices continued to climb.
Geneva, Switzerland (Tribune de Geneve, Fre) – Geneva has built only 747 new housing units in the first nine months of 2008, reports the Tribune in a lengthy article on the city’s housing shortage. It needs at least 1,600 for the year to keep pace with growing needs in an already very tight market.
Geneva, Switzerland (20 Minutes, Fre) – Geneva, like the rest of Switzerland, has been told to reduce the number of places it offers refugees as a result of a September 2006 Swiss-wide popular referendum. But the obligation since January 2008 to reduce the housing the canton provides, coupled with an increase of 284 refugees during the third quarter of 2008, is giving the canton with the country’s worst housing shortage a major logistical headache, reports 20 Minutes.
A series of new government revenue collection measures in Ireland, coming as markets are falling and housing sales are down, are a blow to the middle class. They include an increase in the VAT sales tax, to 21.5%, reduced deductions on pension plan contributions, a departure tax on foreign travel, and a €200 charge on second homes and another €200 on parking spaces provided by employers. Irish Times
The Financial Times today carries an interesting interactive chart of changing house prices in Europe over the past 40 years. Switzerland looks boring, hardly changing colour on the map view that shows housing inflation over the years: housing prices in this country have been remarkably stable compared to most of Europe.
Canton Vaud, Switzerland (24 Heures, Fre) – The housing shortage in Vaud, while not as severe as in Geneva, is taking a toll particularly on young people starting their careers, mainly due to a lack of apartments for rent, while homes, including luxury villas, are being built on most of the land available for construction. The loss is starting to hurt villages, which are losing their young people, points out 24 Heures in an article that looks at several villages in the area around Morges and Rolle,
