When 10-year mortgage interest rates fall to 1%, home ownership becomes a very attractive alternative to renting. A recent report on home ownership shows why home ownership remains out of reach of the average Swiss household despite very low interest rates. The report, by Credit Suisse, says that despite the strong desire for people to […]
Switzerland’s most expensive apartments in Zurich, Maloja and Lavaux
According to data from comparis.ch, Switzerland’s most expensive apartments are found in Zurich, Maloja – home to Saint-Moritz, and Lavaux-Oron. One square metre will cost you CHF 12,250 (US$ 13,000) in Zurich, CHF 11,500 in Maloja and CHF 11,250 in Lavaux-Oron. Lavaux-Oron contains posh parts of Greater Lausanne, such as Lutry, and the UNESCO-listed wine terraces of Lavaux on the […]
Finding a place to rent getting easier in Switzerland
A recent Credit Suisse report, entitled: Tenants Wanted, says capital continues to flow into Swiss real estate, boosting the supply of rental properties. Against a backdrop of negative interest rates at Switzerland’s central bank, investors continue to plough money into constructing new residential properties. At the same time, declining immigration has hit the demand for […]
A Swiss parliamentary commission wants to get rid of imputed rent
20 Minutes. In Switzerland, home owners have to add a theoretical rent to their taxable income. This means home ownership can increase your annual tax bill, sometimes substantially. For many home owners the tax effect of the theoretical or imputed rent is cancelled out by deductions for mortgage interest and home maintenance expenses, however those […]
Number of vacant homes rises again in Vaud
At 1 June 2017, 3,650 empty homes, of which 2,655 were for rent and 995 for sale, were on the market in Vaud. This brought the vacancy rate to 0.9%, a rise of 0.1% compared to the year before. This rise follows an increase of 0.1% in 2016 from a rate of 0.7% in 2015. […]
Switzerland’s most beautiful villages
By Bill Harby Congratulations Moudon. This enchanting hamlet is the newest official member of a coterie of beautiful historic Swiss villages. Generally, the Swiss don’t like to brag. Even when it comes to cheeses, chocolate and direct democracy, they’re more likely to just offer you a taste and let you decide for yourself. But when […]
Swiss government says no wind turbines within 300m of homes
After the Swiss public voted in favour of a new energy strategy on 21 May 2017, the government has been busy fine tuning its plans. Switzerland has only constructed 34 wind turbines over the last 20 years, which produce around 0.15% of the nation’s electricity, according to three experts at EPFL and UNIL, two universities in […]
Property prices fall in Swiss resorts but climb elsewhere, says UBS report
A real estate report by the bank UBS, which looks at 25 top resorts in Switzerland, Austria, France and Italy, shows vacation home price drops across Switzerland. These price falls contrast with price rises in resorts in Austria, France and Italy. With more than 10,000 second homes, Crans-Montana is Switzerland’s biggest market in the Alpine […]
Mortgage reference rate falls opening way for Swiss rent cuts
Every three months the rate of interest used to set Swiss rents is reviewed. If it goes down some renters have the right to request a decrease in rent. This time it dropped 0.25% to 1.50%. The interest rate used to set the reference rate was the average rate on Swiss mortgages at 31 March 2017 […]
Poor not being pushed out of Swiss cities
It is widely believed that as the price of real estate climbs those on low incomes are forced out of city centres. A study by the University of Geneva, commissioned by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office focused on the period between 2010 and 2014, shows this is not true in Switzerland. Rich leaving the centres […]
