Tag Archives: Property

Chalet apartments in Verbier – © Chechotkin | Dreamstime.com 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 named Lex Weber after...

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 named Lex Weber after one of the main figures behind the initiative, the environmentalist Franz Weber. Chalet apartments in Verbier – © Chechotkin |...

© Elxeneize | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge 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 are currently. The bank’s report stated that while...

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. © Elxeneize | Dreamstime.com 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 are currently. The bank’s report stated that while rents have been going up landlords’ costs have gone down significantly. A representative from...

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. © Ronnie Wu | Dreamstime.com In addition to paying tax on imputed rent, home owner-occupiers can deduct maintenance and mortgage interest costs from their taxable income. For many the overall income-tax effect of home ownership is positive. Imputed...

© Ronnie Wu | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge 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 maintenance and mortgage interest costs from their...

Source: Raiffeisen - Click to enlarge The bank Raiffeisen has dropped its attempt to reduce minimum deposit requirements for home loans, according to RTS. Last autumn, it unveiled plans to reduce loan deposit requirements. However, last week, the bank announced that FINMA, Switzerland’s financial regulator, was opposed to the idea. FINMA sets guidelines for mortgage lending in Switzerland which banks follow. Anyone...

The bank Raiffeisen has dropped its attempt to reduce minimum deposit requirements for home loans, according to RTS. Last autumn, it unveiled plans to reduce loan deposit requirements. However, last week, the bank announced that FINMA, Switzerland’s financial regulator, was opposed to the idea. Source: Raiffeisen FINMA sets guidelines for mortgage lending in Switzerland which banks follow. Anyone wishing to use mortgage finance to purchase a home must meet three requirements. First, they must...

In Romania, 96.1% of the population owns the home they live in. In Switzerland the percentage is 37.4%. © Dirima | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge Home ownership rates vary significantly across the country. The lowest rates are found in the canton of Basel-City (16.0%) and Geneva (18.3%). Relative to these two cities, home ownership abounds in Valais (57.2%), the highest. Vaud (31.4%), Zurich (28.5%), Bern (39.9%),...

20 Minutes. After reaching a historical low in the third quarter of 2016, rates started rising in the fourth quarter. Rate increases hit mortgage tenors of five and ten years. © Ashumskiy | Dreamstime.com - Click to enlarge Compared to Q3, fixed mortgage rates on loans of ten years went up an average 0.2% to 1.62% according to price comparison website Comparis.ch. Five year fixed rate loans went up from 1.08% to 1.14%....