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S U B S C R I B E
WRS stories about “real estate”
Tuesday, 6 July, 2010
Despite denials from the experts, more voices are warning about the heat—in the housing market. This weekend the country’s financial watchdog FINMA repeated the Swiss National Bank’s warning about rising prices, especially in the Lake Geneva region and upscale neighbourhoods of Zurich. WRS’s Tony Ganzer sat down with Marco Salvi, a real estate analyst with the Zurich Cantonal Bank and asked the bubble question:
Monday, 21 June, 2010
The Swiss National Bank seems to think a bubble is developing. With interest rates frozen near zero, the SNB last week issued a warning to banks and other mortgage lenders to take more care when it comes to home loans. So just how worried should we be? WRS’s Adam Beaumont put that question to Fredy Hasenmaile, head of real estate analysis at Credit Suisse.
Housing squeeze puts cows out of the pasture
Monday, 1 March, 2010
City folk aren’t the only ones feeling the real estate pinch in the Lake Geneva area. On the rolling hills that stretch from the lake to the Jura mountains, it’s very hard to find a field or a barn to buy or rent. The mayor of the small town of Goillon, near Lausanne, is discovering just how hard. He lost his house and barn, and now has to move his cows from field to field. Reporter Lucas Chambers went to meet him:
Monday, 1 March, 2010
City folk aren’t the only ones feeling the real estate pinch in the Lake Geneva area. On the rolling hills that stretch from the lake to the Jura mountains, it’s very hard to find a field or a barn to buy or rent. The mayor of the small town of Goillon, near Lausanne, is discovering just how hard. He lost his house and barn, and now has to move his cows from field to field. Reporter Lucas Chambers went to meet him:
Rail company real estate ruffles social-minded feathers
Tuesday, 2 February, 2010
The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has found a golden goose in real estate. What began as a pilot project five years ago raked in 260 million francs in 2009—that’s 60 percent of the group’s entire earnings for the year. Housing, offices, public buildings, plenty of construction is underway in big cities such as Zurich, Lausanne and Neuchâtel. In downtown Chur, in canton Graubünden, a university and a retirement home now sit on SBB land. But critics are worried that zoning laws don’t require the rail company to build a minimum amount of affordable housing on its land. Lucas Chambers has this story:
Tuesday, 2 February, 2010
The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has found a golden goose in real estate. What began as a pilot project five years ago raked in 260 million francs in 2009—that’s 60 percent of the group’s entire earnings for the year. Housing, offices, public buildings, plenty of construction is underway in big cities such as Zurich, Lausanne and Neuchâtel. In downtown Chur, in canton Graubünden, a university and a retirement home now sit on SBB land. But critics are worried that zoning laws don’t require the rail company to build a minimum amount of affordable housing on its land. Lucas Chambers has this story:
Wednesday, 19 August, 2009
They call it Metamorphosis. The new eco-neighbourhood proposed by Lausanne’s municipal authorities would comprise 100 hectares, 2,000 homes, 2 billion francs. The goal is to make a dense—and thus more energy efficient—zone in which all social classes would mix in a greener environment. But many residents are not sold on the dream. On the contrary, they fear an oversized monster that will turn into a synthetic ghetto for the well-to-do. They hope to convince the people of Lausanne to vote against the project in just over a month. Lucas Chambers reports:
Investors look to Swiss housing for security
Thursday, 23 July, 2009
Zurich’s housing market isn’t just surviving in this tough economic climate, it’s thriving, says the Cantonal Bank of Zurich. Switzerland’s biggest city saw housing prices increase by 4 percent in the last quarter of 2008—and it’s a trend that’s spreading across the country, according to data. So what’s causing this uptick just as much of the world has been slammed by a tanking housing market? It seems some individual and institutional investors are buying Swiss property instead of investing in financial markets, hoping the recession ends in 2010 and that the Swiss market remains stable. WRS reporter Alex Helmick talked to the Cantonal Bank of Zurich’s real estate expert Marco Salvi about the future of housing in Switzerland.
Thursday, 23 July, 2009
Zurich’s housing market isn’t just surviving in this tough economic climate, it’s thriving, says the Cantonal Bank of Zurich. Switzerland’s biggest city saw housing prices increase by 4 percent in the last quarter of 2008—and it’s a trend that’s spreading across the country, according to data. So what’s causing this uptick just as much of the world has been slammed by a tanking housing market? It seems some individual and institutional investors are buying Swiss property instead of investing in financial markets, hoping the recession ends in 2010 and that the Swiss market remains stable. WRS reporter Alex Helmick talked to the Cantonal Bank of Zurich’s real estate expert Marco Salvi about the future of housing in Switzerland.
Wednesday, 3 June, 2009
The mortgage rate in Switzerland, used to determine the country’s rents, has dropped. The move should spell good news for tenants across the country, as those whose rent was set based on the previous rate should be entited to a reduction. The new rate of 3.25 percent comes into effect today, after a drop of 0.25 percent was announced yesterday. Michele Mischler spoke to Cipriano Alvarez, head of the Law Department at the Federal Housing Office to find out what the changes mean.
Property tax laws up for review
Monday, 18 May, 2009
There’s good news for confused homeowners in Switzerland. The current complicated system of taxing houses is under review from the government. Currently properties are taxed based on a hypothetical amount of rent you could get from your house on the free market, from which you can deduct mortgage interest and other expenses. A proposal to end the tax, but also the deductions, is to go before parliament, and the government has indicated it is willing to accept the motion. Conor Lennon spoke to Patrick Zadrazil from the Swiss Property Owners Association, and began by asking him just the current system works.
Monday, 18 May, 2009
There’s good news for confused homeowners in Switzerland. The current complicated system of taxing houses is under review from the government. Currently properties are taxed based on a hypothetical amount of rent you could get from your house on the free market, from which you can deduct mortgage interest and other expenses. A proposal to end the tax, but also the deductions, is to go before parliament, and the government has indicated it is willing to accept the motion. Conor Lennon spoke to Patrick Zadrazil from the Swiss Property Owners Association, and began by asking him just the current system works.
Tuesday, 21 April, 2009
Despite the ongoing economic slump, rental prices in Swiss cities such as Zurich and Geneva continue to climb according to new figures, with an increase of around 5% recorded around Lake Geneva and 8% in the Zurich area. Conor Lennon spoke to Fredy Hasenmaile from Credit Suisse’s real-estate department to find out why.
Friday, 13 February, 2009
Despite record low interest rates, the housing market in Switzerland has remained pretty stable, with most people erring on the side of caution. But then the super rich are not most people, and the luxury real estate market is doing very well thank you. And yet this is one of the only countries where house prices have not taken a nose dive. Why then are world’s well-heeled lining up to buy into the market? Lucas Chambers went to find out.
Thursday, 29 January, 2009
They’re a far cry from the electric fences of Johannesburg and the armed guards of Florida, but so-called “gated communities” have come to Switzerland.
Thursday, 15 January, 2009
Foreigners who rent in Zürich and Geneva are being charged up to 7 percent more than Swiss locals, according to a study by researchers at EPFL, the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, and the Higher School of Management in Geneva. Conor Lennon spoke to Philippe Thalmann from EPFL and asked him why he and his colleagues decided to carry out the study in the first place.
Thursday, 13 November, 2008
Wedged between the lake and the French border, Geneva isn’t exactly overflowing with space for new housing, but some say the will is a bigger question than the where…
Thursday, 13 November, 2008
I put out a housing ad of my own, looking for flat seekers in Geneva, and I found it all:
