If you’ve been dreaming of owning a house or an apartment in Switzerland, autumn 2025 may be a good opportunity to do so – at least for some people.
There is an obvious paradox in Switzerland: in a country that has one of the highest per-capita GDPs in the world and is among the nations with the highest disposable income per resident, very few people live in their own homes.
One explanation may be that Switzerland is an expensive country to live in, and that reason can certainly not be ruled out.
But other factors play an important role as well
For instance, Switzerland is a very small country, where building land is scarce, and therefore correspondingly expensive. (And in many parts of the country farming land cannot be zoned for construction).
This is particularly the case in densely populated urban areas whose geography sets restrictions on land expansion.
Also, fewer apartments and houses are being built throughout the country, for several reasons.
The higher cost of materials is one, but there are others as well: many cantons and municipalities have stricter laws now regarding heights of buildings, as well as tougher noise ordinances to comply with.
This is the general context, but sometimes there are better times than others to go ahead and buy property nevertheless.
Autumn 2025 is such a time, according to some experts, and there are several reasons for that.
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The main reason: a (very) low interest rate
“When it comes to financing, it is currently very attractive to buy property in Switzerland,” Marco Tomasina, a spokesperson for MoneyPark real estate platform told The Local.
The reason is that key interest rate in Switzerland is zero percent – compared to 2 percent in the EU.
This means that “fixed-rate mortgages with a ten-year term are now available at well below 2 percent. This contributes to the fact that the cost of owning is significantly lower than renting,” he said.
That is good news for anyone looking to buy a property right now, but the picture is not all rosy: even with such low mortgage rates, the prices not only remain high, but are actually increasing.
“The major challenge in Switzerland is that property prices have risen by around 20 percent over the past five years,” Tomasina said.
READ MORE: Where in Switzerland are property prices rising right now
An average apartment now costs around 750,000 francs and a single-family house around 1.3 million francs, with prices in cities being significantly higher than in rural areas.
For this reason, real estate in Switzerland is typically financed with a high mortgage share, he said.
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How much do you actually need to be able to afford to buy a home at this time?
According to Tomasina, an average single-family house requires at least 260,000 francs in equity and 230,000 francs in annual income.
But even if enough equity and income are available, “it is important to compare offers broadly when arranging financing,” he noted. “The difference between the cheapest and most expensive mortgage offer can easily be around one percentage point.”
READ MORE: Old versus new: Which type of housing is it better to buy (or rent) in Switzerland?
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If you do decide to buy this autumn…
You may be wondering what the best type of mortgage is.
There is, however, no ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer.
“The financing strategy must be tailored to the current and future financial needs of the borrower (e.g., how long does the owner intend to keep their new home),” Tomasina pointed out.
“In general, it can be said that among our clients who receive product-independent advice, the ten-year fixed-rate mortgage has been the most popular form of financing.”
READ MORE about buying property in Switzerland in our dedicated section.
