Duplicate Images in Zurich's Property Listings Are Costing Renters Time and Money — Here's Why It Matters

Flat hunters in Zurich are running into a specific, grinding problem: the same photographs appearing across multiple, different rental listings — sometimes for apartments in entirely different neighbourhoods, sometimes for units that no longer exist on the market. The practice, known in digital property markets as duplicate image recycling, is fuelling confusion and eating into the already scarce viewing slots available in one of Europe's tightest rental markets.

Zurich's Wohnungsnot — the acute housing shortage — has been well documented. The city's residential vacancy rate has hovered below 0.1 percent for extended stretches over the past three years, according to data published by the City of Zurich's statistics office, Statistik Stadt Zürich. With that kind of pressure, a misleading photo is not a minor inconvenience. It is a genuine barrier to finding a home.

Where the Problem Shows Up Most

The issue is most visible on the major listing portals that dominate Swiss property search: Homegate, ImmoScout24 and Comparis. Renters searching in neighbourhoods such as Aussersihl, Wiedikon and the rapidly developing Altstetten district report clicking through to listings only to recognise photographs from a property they viewed — and rejected, or lost — weeks earlier. In some cases, the images are pulled from a completely different apartment in a different postcode, giving a false impression of room size, natural light or the state of a kitchen.

The Mieterinnen- und Mieterverband Zürich, the city's tenant association with offices near Stauffacher, has tracked an increase in complaints related to misleading listing content over the past 18 months. The association advises renters to screenshot listings immediately and cross-check images using a reverse image search before committing to a viewing, because listings can be quietly amended or pulled after an inquiry is made.

ETH Zurich's Future Cities Lab has produced research demonstrating how algorithmic content on rental platforms can distort market perception — not just for individual searchers but for entire districts. When low-quality or recycled imagery saturates listings in areas like Hürlimann-Areal or the Langstrasse corridor, it suppresses the ability of prospective tenants to make informed comparisons, which in turn benefits landlords and agencies operating with minimal accountability.

What Platforms and Regulators Are — and Are Not — Doing

Swiss federal consumer protection law does not currently include specific provisions governing duplicate or misleading imagery in rental listings. That regulatory gap sits uncomfortably alongside the Federal Act on Unfair Competition, which theoretically covers deceptive commercial practices, but enforcement in digital property markets has been inconsistent.

Homegate, which is headquartered in Schlieren just west of the city, updated its listing terms in March 2025 to include language prohibiting the reuse of images from expired listings. How rigorously that rule is enforced — and by what technical mechanism — has not been made publicly clear by the company. ImmoScout24 has signalled that automated duplicate-detection tools are in development, though no firm launch date has been announced.

The practical consequences are measurable. A 2024 survey by Comparis found that Zurich renters spend an average of 27 hours searching before securing a flat — longer than in Geneva or Basel. Wasted viewings driven by inaccurate listings contribute directly to that figure. For someone working full-time, 27 hours of search time is more than three working days lost, often spread over months of stress and repeated disappointment.

For residents already priced toward the city's outer ring — Seebach, Affoltern, Schwamendingen — duplicate listings create a second layer of disadvantage. Time and transport costs to attend viewings based on false imagery add up quickly when monthly rents for a three-room apartment in those areas are routinely advertised above CHF 2,200.

Renters and housing advocates say the most immediate practical step is to use free reverse image search tools such as Google Images or TinEye before scheduling a viewing. The Mieterinnen- und Mieterverband Zürich also advises lodging formal complaints directly with listing platforms when duplicate or recycled images are identified — building a paper trail that could eventually push regulators at the Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft toward clearer digital listing standards. The pressure to act is there. The political will, in Bern, is still catching up.