Posts for topic Financial market

Despite geopolitical uncertainty and rising market interest rates, the Swiss economy remains on a growth trajectory. While the real estate market is benefiting from strong demand and low interest rates, financial markets are facing new challenges.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Swiss Finance & Property Group (SFP Group), founders Hans-Peter Bauer and Adrian Schenker join Patrik Schmid, former CEO of Wüest Partner, to discuss the early days of the SFP Group, the transformation of the Swiss real estate market, and the importance of long-standing collaboration.

Real estate prices in Switzerland will continue to rise in 2026. Residential properties in particular, as well as prime commercial space in prime locations, are driven by declining vacancy rates and persistently strong demand. Indirect investments also continue to perform strongly. Institutional and private investors are allocating capital to real estate more actively than they have in years. At the same time, however, the pace of price increases is likely to slow gradually. The reasons for this are outlined below in our overview of the current situation on the real estate market.

After a surprisingly solid start to 2025, the Swiss economy momentum weakened considerably. In 2026, growth is also expected to remain below potential despite low inflation and a somewhat more relaxed tariff environment. Geopolitical and trade policy risks are rising. This raises the question of how resilient Switzerland remains in this environment and where the key opportunities and risks lie. Find out more in our Economic and Market Overview.

Compared to the global or US equity markets (MSCI World Index- 1.4%, S&P 500 -5.1% as at the end of April), Switzerland's property stocks were able to confirm their "safe haven" status.

8 November 2024 was a day of high volatility in the Swiss indirect real estate market, triggered by UBS's strategic announcement the day before. Following the acquisition of Credit Suisse Funds AG in April 2024, UBS Fund Management (Switzerland) AG, which now manages 14 Swiss real estate funds, presented its plan to merge certain funds for the period from 2025 to 2027.

A few weeks ago, as the flames ceased their dance upon the timbers of Copenhagen’s historic stock exchange. The iconic 400-year-old building, the symbol of Copenhagen's financial history, helped to thrust a very interesting real estate market into the spotlight.

The global real estate asset class currently represents a compelling opportunity for investors seeking attractively priced investment opportunities with sound fundamentals. The interest rate hikes of the last two years have triggered a significant correction in international real estate prices.

Over the past year, international real estate markets have experienced significant repricing, leading to yields in some markets surging to levels unprecedented since the global financial crisis. Despite this, real estate fundamentals in most markets have remained solid, with an exception to the office sector in the US.

The Corporate Finance & Capital Markets team of Swiss Finance & Property Ltd has reached another milestone. In spring 2023, Swiss Finance & Property Ltd for the first time acted as sole lead manager for a capital increase of Orascom Development Holding AG. Thanks to meticulous planning and optimal timing, the only issue of equities by a Swiss listed real estate company so far this year could be executed successfully in spite of the challenging market environment.

After many years of constantly falling interest rates and the option to sometimes borrow capital at negative interest rates, rising borrowing costs are now confronting real estate funds with new challenges – and investors with new risks.

The TER has become a much more relevant factor in investment decisions, and it has become much easier to compare the figures for different peers thanks to efforts undertaken by the self-regulating industry associations to bring about standardised definitions and harmonisation. Improvements in efficiency, as reflected by lower TERs, can be largely attributed to the degression of fixed costs such as accounting, marketing, foundation board fees and bank charges.

The Corporate Finance & Banking team of Swiss Finance & Property Ltd ("SFP"), which has been a licensed securities firm for about a year now, assisted EPIC Suisse AG ("EPIC") with its IPO. Despite challenging market conditions, the biggest real estate IPO on the Swiss stock market for eight years was a success thanks to painstaking preparation.

Investments in residential property favour high earnings security over an attractive return. Investments in commercial properties, on the other hand, offer good potential in the current climate of growing demand for commercial space and moderate entry opportunities.

The previous two years were eventful, to say the least, for real estate markets. Most economies have now reopened and are actively employing strategies of “living with COVID”.

This article looks at figures relating to Zurich's market for office space based on an analysis and evaluation of data from the City of Zurich's Statistics Office.

New mobility concepts are being thought up, evaluated and trialled in a number of towns and cities. All of these concepts share the same goal: banishing motorised traffic from urban centres and creating more room for non-motorised traffic as well as public spaces.

The transaction market for direct property investment has undergone a surprisingly dynamic recovery in recent months, boosted by a sustained period of low interest rates. What is less surprising is that the compression of initial yields was strongest in the residential sector, followed by the office sector (prime), while the retail sector stagnated year-on-year.