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 […]
Swiss have never moved as much as they did in 2015
20 Minutes. In Switzerland, more than a million people moved house in 2015, 12.1% of the population. The figure has never be higher, according to a report called Immo-Monitoring published by Wüest Partner. The home moving covered around 490,000 dwellings. Of those who moved, 344,000 stayed in the same commune (Gemeinde) while the other 659,000 changed […]
Fall in Swiss property prices accelerates
Over the year ending 31 March 2017, apartment prices across Switzerland dropped by 6.8%, according to a property price report published by the Zurich-based research and consulting firm Fahrländer Partner FPRE. Close to half of the decline (-3.2%) occurred in the first quarter of 2017. Mid-range apartments hardest hit Across the year, the price of […]
The Swiss municipalities with too many second homes – latest figures
On 11 March 2012, Swiss voted to accept a law restricting the construction of secondary residences, homes that are only used occasionally by owners living somewhere else. Under the law no more than 20% of a municipality’s housing can be second homes. Those with percentages above 20% run into building restrictions. The initiative was nick […]
Swiss rents 40% too high, according to bank’s calculation
24 Heures. According to the bank Raiffeisen, if rents had followed the path prescribed in the Swiss Code of Obligations, they would be much lower. Their figures show that changes in interest rates have not flowed through to renters. If rents had fallen in step with mortgage interest rates they would be 40% lower than they […]
Proposal to remove Swiss home-owner tax rejected
In Switzerland, those who own the home they live in must add imputed rent to their income when calculating their income tax. This means owner-occupiers are taxed for living in their own homes, an odd concept for some who are new to Switzerland. In addition to paying tax on imputed rent, home owner-occupiers can deduct […]
