immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Zweitwohnungen

  • Swiss municipalities keep proportion of second homes stable

    Swiss municipalities keep proportion of second homes stable

    The latest survey by the Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE) shows that the proportion of municipalities that no longer permit new second homes remains significant. Around one in six Swiss municipalities is affected by this decision, and this figure has only risen slightly compared to the previous year.

    Interestingly, Switzerland now has a total of 340 municipalities with a proportion of second homes of over twenty per cent. In these municipalities, new second homes are only permitted under strict conditions, as stipulated in the Second Homes Act. Particularly affected are areas in the Alpine arc, the foothills of the Alps, occasionally in the Jura and on lakes.

    The municipalities carry out their annual housing inventories to determine the number of second homes. The results are published by the ARE at the end of March each year. Municipalities whose proportion of second homes is now over twenty per cent then have 30 days to comment and clarify their inventory. If the proportion remains above twenty per cent, the Second Homes Act, which regulates the construction of new second homes and is based on the Second Homes Initiative adopted in March 2012, applies.

    This development underlines the efforts of Swiss municipalities to regulate the issue of second homes in accordance with legal requirements and to maintain the balance between recreational and residential use in their regions.

  • Thurgau government rejects property tax on second homes

    Thurgau government rejects property tax on second homes

    In its official statement on the proposal, however, the Government Council expresses considerable reservations and shares the sceptical view of the FDK. Although the FDK recognises the intention behind the proposal for a system change, it warns of the potential financial risks for mountain and tourism cantons and the possible implications for the national fiscal equalisation system. The introduction of a property tax would also entail practical challenges in terms of delimitation and additional costs during implementation. The majority of the FDK sees no current need to revise the existing system of residential property taxation, as the taxation of imputed rental value is considered appropriate for constitutional, economic and systematic reasons.

    In addition, the cantonal government emphasises that an amendment to cantonal tax legislation would be necessary, which could considerably prolong the legislative process. There is a risk that the legal framework for the introduction of a property tax will not yet exist at the time of the possible abolition of imputed rental value taxation on second homes.

  • Property prices in the mountain region are on the rise

    Property prices in the mountain region are on the rise

    The ZWG, which was passed in 2015, has now largely halted the construction of new second homes in mountain areas, the Federal Office for Spatial Development(ARE) informs in a press release. In cooperation with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the ARE regularly monitors the effects of the law. According to the current monitoring, the impact of the ZWG on the construction industry and the hotel industry in the mountain region is low.

    “On the other hand, it has become difficult for locals and workers in the mountain area to find affordable housing,” writes the ARE. However, the experts at the Federal Office do not attribute this exclusively to the ZWG. Rather, the low interest rate environment and the possibility of working independently of location have also increased the demand for second homes. As a result, the supply overhang of second homes identified in the first monitoring in 2021 has disappeared in many places. Instead, an increasing number of so-called old-law flats that are free for use are being put on the market as second homes.

    The difficulties for the resident population, newcomers and employees to find affordable housing have led to “displacement and migration”, explains the ARE. Older people tend to move to more central valley communities, employed people to communities with affordable housing and the possibility to commute to work. Municipalities can restrict the conversion of primary to secondary residences with requirements for the creation of affordable housing. The Federal Office of Housing supports municipalities in an active housing location policy with the guide “Attractive Housing in Mountain Areas“.

  • Second homes make the highest jump in price

    Second homes make the highest jump in price

    The prices of single-family houses increased in 2021 compared to the previous year by an average of 9 percent to CHF 1.42 million. The prices of condominiums rose by an average of 8.3 percent to CHF 0.91 million. This is shown by the figures from the Home Market Price Analysis presented annually by the real estate marketplace Homegate and the Swiss Real Estate Institute of the Zurich School of Economics (HWZ). As stated in a media release , this is the highest price dynamic for residential property in ten years.

    For second homes, prices rose by 35 percent compared to the previous year. “The price increases for first homes are amazing,” says Peter Ilg, head of the Swiss Real Estate Institute. “But in the case of second homes, a market has been created due to the strict limitation on supply by the second home initiative that is ideal for real estate speculation.”

    Condominiums are still the most expensive in the Zurich region, single-family homes in the Lake Geneva region. The sharp rise in prices seems to be leading to fewer sales transactions, at least for single-family homes. They fell by 10 percent.

    There are major differences between the regions at the community level: With the same budget of 3.1 million francs, for which there was a house in Erlenbach ZH, you could buy a good six single-family houses in Brugg AG. The lowest average prices for condominiums were paid in the municipality of Sainte-Croix VD at CHF 0.28 million, the highest in Zumikon ZH at CHF 2.37 million.