News conference
22 September 2022,
10.00 am
Introductory remarks by Martin Schlegel
Against the backdrop of current interest rate movements, I would like to give you a brief
assessment of developments on the mortgage and real estate markets. Alongside other factors
such as construction activity, income and demographics, interest rates have an impact on the
real estate market and on demand for mortgages. In turn, mortgage and real estate markets
play a key role for banks and financial stability.
After a long period of extremely low interest rates, interest rate levels on the money and
capital markets in Switzerland have risen substantially since the beginning of the year. As a
consequence, interest rates for fixed mortgages have also increased, while rates for SARON
mortgages have remained low.
Until now, these interest rate developments have had little effect on growth in the mortgage
and real estate markets. Prices for single-family houses and privately owned apartments have
continued to rise and mortgage volume has also grown further. One possible reason is that
actual interest costs for real estate purchases have increased only slightly due to the shift from
fixed-rate mortgages to SARON mortgages. By contrast, there are signs of a slowdown in the
residential investment property segment. Available data for apartment buildings indicate a
slight reduction in prices in the second quarter.
Looking ahead, the tightening of monetary policy should also help to ease the risk situation on
the mortgage and real estate markets. However, given that vulnerabilities on these markets are
still high, the resilience of the banking system remains crucial. In January 2022, the Federal
Council approved the SNB's proposal to reactivate the countercyclical capital buffer. This
buffer will come into effect at the end of September and will contribute to maintaining
banking system resilience.