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Switzerland’s Housing Market May Become the Newest Property Bubble

Surging property prices mean Switzerland’s residential property market is close to a bubble, according to a UBS Group AG gauge.

Switzerland’s Housing Market May Become the Newest Property Bubble
Residential apartment blocks and traditional Swiss residential properties stand in Bern, Switzerland. (Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg)

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Surging property prices mean Switzerland’s residential property market is close to a bubble, according to a UBS Group AG gauge. 

The UBS Swiss Real Estate Bubble Index rose to 1.90 points in the second quarter. The cost of residential housing shot up by the most in eight years during the period, the bank said. Mortgage growth also accelerated.

Switzerland, which deactivated a bank capital buffer early in the pandemic, isn’t alone in seeing house prices rise. Both Britain and the U.S. have seen increases, and New Zealand, Canada and Sweden are considered to be among the world’s frothiest markets.

Switzerland’s Housing Market May Become the Newest Property Bubble

The UBS analysts say the index is likely to decline in the latter half of 2021 as the economy rebounds. Still, they expect imbalances on the real estate market to be more pronounced than prior to the crisis.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.