Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

PROPERTY

Swiss mortgage rates ‘climb drastically’ with more hikes on the way

Due to inflation and Switzerland’s new monetary policy, mortgages are now twice as expensive as they were a year ago.

Published: 26 January 2023 13:21 CET

Swiss mortgage rates 'climb drastically' with more hikes on the way

Higher mortgage rates make home ownership more expensive. Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash

A bit of bad news for owners, or prospective buyers, of Swiss properties: they will have to pay more than double of 2022 prices for a 10-year fixed rate mortgage, Moneyland consumer platform reported on Wednesday.

“Swiss mortgage index has climbed drastically over the past year,” Moneyland said.

Currently, the average interest rate is 2.54 percent for five-year fixed mortgages and 2.76 percent for 10-year terms. As a comparison, at the beginning of 2022, these rates were 1.01 percent and 1.26 percent, respectively.

“On average, the cost of a ten-year fixed-rate mortgage is around double of what it was at the start of 2022,” according to Moneyland’s CEO Benjamin Manz.

Five-year mortgages are 2.5 times higher than they were in early 2022, he said.

This is not exactly a surprising development, as experts had predicted the hike when Switzerland’s central bank (SNB) raised its key rate sharply last year to fight inflation, which, in turn, caused mortgage rates to go up as well.

The upward trend could continue well into 2023, as the SNB’s chief Thomas Jordan recently said that another hike is likely, further increasing the current interest rate of 1 percent.

READ MORE: Switzerland set for another interest rate hike, central bank chief warns

This means that mortgages will remain “very expensive, and could well climb further as 2023 progresses,” Moneyland said.

If you already have a fixed-rate mortgage, then you are safe from rate increases for the term of your mortgage.

However, for new home buyers, or those with variable-rate mortgages, things may be more problematic.

“It is not excluded that mortgage interest rates will reach 3 to 4 percent next year,” according to Donato Scognamiglio, director of real estate platform Iazi.

READ MORE: What’s the outlook for the Swiss property and rental market in 2023?

Are there any cheaper mortgage options in Switzerland?

These articles could help you find alternatives to traditional models:

Reader question: What is a reverse mortgage in Switzerland, and will it benefit me?

EXPLAINED: What is Switzerland’s ‘SARON’ mortgage?

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

'Apartment exchange': How could Switzerland curb rent prices?

Tenant advocacy groups and politicians have been looking at various ways to make housing more affordable to low and middle-income tenants.

Among solutions being currently proposed is to step up the construction of ‘public utility’ housing — that is, affordable flats that are built on publicly-owned land.

READ MORE: How can Switzerland solve its housing shortage and curb rents?

Another proposal is to ban the construction of second homes (or transforming primary residences into holiday accommodations) in areas suffering from housing shortage.

READ MORE: How do second homes contribute to Switzerland’s housing crisis?

These, by the way, are suggestions coming from left and center parties; right-wing groups, on the other hand, see limiting immigration as the best way to tackle the housing problem.

Another measure is now being put forth by the Swiss Tenants Association (ASLOCA).

In an interview he gave to Watson news platform on Tuesday, ASLOCA president Carlo Sommaruga said that exchanges of apartments among tenants would keep the rents down.

Sommaruga, who is also a socialist MP, has filed a motion to this effect in the parliament. Specifically, it allows tenants to exchange their dwellings among themselves — for instance, when moving from one region to another, or seeking a bigger (or smaller) apartments.

How exactly would this work?

Under the current system, when an old tenant leaves and a new one arrives, landlords have a right to increase rent if the reference rate — a benchmark used to set rents — has increased in the meantime.

For instance, if the old tenant’s contract is based on a 1.25 rate and it climbs (as it is expected to in June), then new tenants would have to pay a correspondingly higher rent.

Currently, 54 percent of rental contracts in Switzerland are based on that rate, but regionally the number is higher.

In the Zurich area, as well as in central Switzerland, for instance, more than 60 percent of rental contracts are based on a 1.25-percent reference rate, according to Moneyland consumer platform.

If ASLOCA’s proposal goes through (it is not yet clear when it will be discussed), then the apartments could be swapped at the original rent, regardless of the rate.

Not surprisingly, “the landlords oppose” this measure, Sommaruga said. “They prefer classic terminations in order to be able to increase the rent for new leases, while the exchange results in maintaining rents at their original level.”

There would, however, be a downside to this arrangement.

Apartments would be swapped in ‘as is’ condition.

The landlord would not be responsible for making repairs or other works to the apartment that is being exchanged between tenants.

He or she would, however, approve the new tenants to make sure they are financially able to pay the rent.

Additionally, Sommaruga said that the new law, should it be enacted, would make each tenant in the swap responsible for the other paying their rent. “The tenants would mutually verify that the other is solvent, by communicating their income, lack of criminal record, etc.”

“The purpose of the motion is to get the law changed,” he added. “Modalities would be defined later. There could be just cause for refusing the exchange, The measure could also specify that these exchanges are only possible when there is a housing shortage.”

Url copied to clipboard!