๐จ๐ญ Swiss Mortgage Calculator
Check your down payment, affordability and monthly cost against Switzerland’s 2026 mortgage rules.
1. Property & Your Finances
The price you and the seller agree on. The bank runs its own valuation separately โ if that comes in lower than the purchase price, you must cover the gap yourself, on top of your normal down payment.
Cash, securities, gifts, inheritance advances, or Pillar 3a/Pillar 2 funds you contribute. Swiss banks require a minimum of 20% of the purchase price โ there’s no way around this rule.
At least half of your total down payment (10% of the purchase price) must come from non-pension sources. Pillar 2 money can only ever cover the remaining half, never the full 20%.
Combined gross income before tax and social security โ not your net take-home pay. This is the figure Swiss banks compare your housing costs against.
Only used to check if you have fewer than 15 years left until standard retirement age (65) โ that would shorten your window to amortize the second mortgage. Leave blank to use the default 15-year period.
Notary, land-registry and transfer fees vary hugely by canton โ roughly 0.4% in Zurich up to over 4% in Geneva, plus agent fees if used. Enter your canton’s estimate here for a one-time cost total; leave at 0 to ignore it.
2. Mortgage Rate
SARON tracks the Swiss reference rate and resets roughly every 3 months โ cheaper today, but exposed to future rises. Fixed rates lock your rate for the chosen term (2โ15 years), usually at a small premium for that certainty.
Your real quoted rate โ used only to estimate your actual monthly cost today. It has almost no bearing on whether the bank approves your mortgage; that’s what the imputed rate below is for.
Banks test whether you could still afford the mortgage at this much higher notional rate โ regardless of what you actually pay. This is the single biggest reason mortgage applications get declined.
๐ Your Results
Your total imputed housing cost (interest at the stress-test rate + ancillary costs + amortization) divided by your gross income. Swiss banks require this to stay at or below one-third.
| Imputed annual housing cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Imputed interest (stress-test rate ร mortgage) | โ |
| Ancillary & maintenance (1% of price) | โ |
| 2nd-mortgage amortization | โ |
| Total imputed housing cost / year | โ |
| Minimum gross income required (ร 3) | โ |
| Your gross income vs. requirement | โ |
The part of your mortgage above 65% of the property’s value must be repaid within 15 years, or by age 65, whichever comes first. Everything below that 65% line never has to be fully repaid.
| Loan structure | Amount |
|---|---|
| First mortgage (up to 65% of price) | โ |
| Second mortgage (must amortize) | โ |
| Amortization period used | โ |
Assumptions: 20% minimum down payment (10 points non-pension), 1% ancillary/maintenance cost, 65% loan-to-value threshold for the second mortgage, 15-year maximum amortization or by age 65. These reflect common Swiss bank practice in 2026 โ individual lenders can and do vary slightly, so treat this as a planning estimate, not a bank’s binding offer.
Swiss Mortgage Calculator: Check Your Affordability, Rate and Monthly Cost (2026)
A Swiss mortgage calculator that only shows you a monthly payment is answering the wrong question. The number that actually decides whether a bank says yes is your affordability ratio โ and almost no generic calculator checks it.
Use the calculator above to estimate your monthly cost, required down payment, and affordability against Switzerland's own lending rules. Below it, you'll find the current rates, the exact math banks use, and the mistakes that trip up first-time buyers.
How Does a Swiss Mortgage Calculator Work?
A proper mortgage calculator for Switzerland takes your property price, down payment, and mortgage rate, then runs the result through the country's affordability test โ not just your everyday budget. That's the part most imported, US-style calculators miss entirely.
Two numbers matter more than your actual interest rate: the imputed interest rate (around 5%, used to stress-test you against future rate rises) and the one-third-of-income ceiling. Get either one wrong and the calculator will tell you a mortgage "works" when a real bank would decline it.
If you're not sure what gross income to enter, run your numbers through the Switzerland Salary Calculator first โ it breaks down federal and cantonal tax, AHV/IV/EO and BVG deductions across all 26 cantons, so you're working with a real figure instead of a guess.
How Much Down Payment Do You Need in Switzerland?
You need a minimum of 20% of the purchase price as equity, and at least half of that (10 percentage points) has to come from sources other than your pension fund. This is one of the stricter down-payment rules in Europe, and it's non-negotiable โ no Swiss bank will lend above 80% loan-to-value on a residential purchase.
Acceptable "hard" funds for that minimum 10% include savings account balances, securities, gifts or inheritance advances, and Pillar 3a private retirement savings. You can top up the rest of your 20% using Pillar 2 occupational pension assets, but only up to that ceiling โ pension money alone can never get you to the full down payment.
On a CHF 850,000 property, that means CHF 170,000 in equity, with at least CHF 85,000 of it coming from savings, securities or 3a funds rather than your pension.
The Affordability Rule, With a Worked Example
Swiss banks don't check whether you can afford the mortgage at today's rate โ they check whether you could afford it at roughly 5%, and cap that cost at one-third of your gross income. This single rule blocks more mortgage applications than credit history ever does.
Three costs get added together every time: imputed interest on the full loan, ancillary/maintenance costs (assumed at 1% of the property value per year), and the annual amortization owed on the second mortgage. Here's how it plays out on a CHF 850,000 property with the minimum 20% down payment:
| Item | Basis | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| Property price | โ | CHF 850,000 |
| Down payment (20%) | โ | CHF 170,000 |
| Total mortgage | โ | CHF 680,000 |
| Imputed interest | 5% ร CHF 680,000 | CHF 34,000 |
| Ancillary & maintenance | 1% ร CHF 850,000 | CHF 8,500 |
| 2nd-mortgage amortization | CHF 127,500 รท 15 years | CHF 8,500 |
| Total imputed housing cost | โ | CHF 51,000 |
| Minimum gross income required | CHF 51,000 ร 3 | CHF 153,000 |
Notice what's missing from that table: the actual interest rate you'll pay. Even if your real rate is 1.6%, the bank still tests you at 5% โ which is exactly why two buyers with identical incomes can get very different answers depending on the property price alone.
Current Swiss Mortgage Rates: SARON vs Fixed
As of mid-2026, SARON mortgages sit around 0.7-1.3%, 5-year fixed rates run roughly 1.45-1.70%, and 10-year fixed mortgages are priced around 1.60-2.05%. The Swiss National Bank has held its policy rate at 0.00% since mid-2025, which is why variable SARON pricing has stayed this low.
| Mortgage type | Approx. rate range (2026) | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| SARON (variable) | ~0.70% โ 1.30% | Buyers comfortable with rate swings, expecting stable/falling rates |
| 5-year fixed | ~1.45% โ 1.70% | Medium-term planning certainty |
| 10-year fixed | ~1.60% โ 2.05% | Buyers who want the rate locked for the long haul |
These swiss mortgage rates move with capital-market swap rates and creditworthiness, not just the SNB rate, so treat the ranges above as a starting point rather than your personal quote โ check live pricing directly with UBS, PostFinance or a Comparis rate comparison before signing anything.
Many Swiss buyers don't pick just one: "mortgage splitting" โ say, half on a 10-year fixed rate and half on SARON โ is a common way to balance planning certainty against flexibility. The trade-off is that splitting a mortgage across two lenders makes it harder to switch banks later, since only one part of the loan may be up for renewal at a time.
How Is the Second Mortgage Repaid?
The portion of your mortgage above roughly 65% of the property's value โ the "second mortgage" โ must be amortized down to that threshold within 15 years, or by retirement age, whichever comes first. The first two-thirds of the loan, by contrast, never has to be fully repaid; many Swiss homeowners carry it for life.
You can amortize directly (regular payments straight off the loan balance, which lowers your interest cost over time) or indirectly (paying into a Pillar 3a account instead, which builds retirement savings and only pays down the mortgage at the end of the term). Indirect amortization keeps your deductible mortgage interest higher for longer, which matters for the tax question below โ but it also means you're carrying more debt, and therefore more interest cost, throughout the term.
Is Mortgage Interest Still Tax-Deductible? The Eigenmietwert Change
For now, yes โ Switzerland still taxes homeowners on a notional "imputed rental value" (Eigenmietwert), and in exchange lets you deduct mortgage interest and maintenance costs. But this system is being phased out.
On 28 September 2025, Swiss voters approved abolishing the Eigenmietwert, with 57.7% in favor โ ending a tax that had survived three earlier referendum attempts since the 1990s, according to SWI swissinfo.ch. Some early coverage pointed to 2028 as the likely start date, but the Federal Council confirmed in April 2026 that implementation won't begin before 2029.
What Changes After the Reform Takes Effect
Until then, nothing changes โ you still declare the imputed rental value as income and still deduct mortgage interest and maintenance against it, as explained in UBS's imputed rental value guide. Once the reform lands, the fictional rental income disappears from your tax return, but so does most of the mortgage interest deduction on owner-occupied property. That trade-off tends to favor owners with little or no mortgage debt, and works against heavily leveraged or renovation-heavy properties.
If you're weighing a large mortgage against a smaller one for tax reasons, this three-year runway is worth factoring into the decision now rather than after the rules change.
Does Your Canton Matter?
Yes โ property transfer taxes, notary and land-registry fees vary enormously by canton, from around 0.4% of the purchase price in Zurich to over 4% in Geneva. Cantonal banks (like ZKB, BCGE or BCV) also sometimes offer preferential rates to residents of their own canton.
None of this shows up in a generic mortgage calculator, which is why comparing at least one cantonal bank alongside a national lender like UBS or PostFinance is worth the extra ten minutes, especially in higher-fee cantons.
Common Mistakes First-Time Buyers Make
- Budgeting at the real interest rate instead of the imputed one. A mortgage that looks comfortable at 1.6% can fail the bank's 5% stress test entirely.
- Forgetting the 1% ancillary-cost line. Heating, insurance and upkeep aren't optional extras โ banks bake them into affordability from day one.
- Assuming pension funds can cover the whole down payment. At least 10 percentage points must come from non-pension sources, no exceptions.
- Getting only one quote. Rates and affordability assumptions (4.5% vs 5% imputed rate, for instance) genuinely differ between lenders.
- Overlooking Lex Koller as a foreign buyer. Residence permit type โ not nationality alone โ determines what you're allowed to buy. More in the FAQ below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can foreigners get a mortgage and buy property in Switzerland?
It depends on your residence permit, not your nationality. C-permit holders buy like Swiss citizens. B-permit holders can buy one primary residence for their own use, no special permit required. Non-residents are generally limited to holiday homes in designated tourist cantons, capped at around 1,500 approvals nationwide per year, and typically need 35-50% down instead of the usual 20%. See Taxolution's Lex Koller guide for the full breakdown by permit type.
Do all Swiss banks use the same affordability rule?
The one-third-of-income rule and the roughly 5% imputed rate are industry self-regulatory standards, not a single hardcoded law โ so figures shift slightly between lenders. Some cantonal banks use 4.5% instead of 5%. Always confirm exact figures with the lender before treating a calculator output as final; moneyland.ch's affordability calculator is a useful second opinion.
What documents and credit checks do Swiss banks require?
Expect to provide salary statements, recent tax returns, proof of where your down payment came from, pension statements if you're using Pillar 2 or 3a funds, and a property valuation the bank orders itself. Banks also check the debt collection register (Betreibungsregisterauszug), Switzerland's equivalent of a credit history check.
How much does it cost to renew or refinance a Swiss mortgage?
Renewing with your existing bank at term-end is usually free or low-cost. Switching lenders mid-term can trigger early-exit penalties plus a new valuation fee, so most owners shop around a few months before their fixed term ends rather than mid-contract.
Is a Swiss mortgage calculator accurate enough to replace a bank's own quote?
It's accurate enough for planning and for ruling properties in or out of your range, but it isn't a binding offer. A real quote factors in your specific credit profile and the bank's own valuation, which can differ from the purchase price โ lenders commission their own appraisal, and it can come in below the purchase price, effectively raising the equity you need to cover the gap. Use a calculator to narrow the search, then compare two or three actual lender quotes.