| Uncertainty over the path of Swiss property prices has increased over the last year, however, Fitch Ratings maintains its view that the market as a whole is still not experiencing a bubble. To reflect the increased uncertainty, we have introduced a buffer in our house price decline assumptions (HPD).
House prices have risen faster than general income levels since 2000, and the decoupling of house prices and real income growth to the point where price rises start to outstrip affordability is now comparable with that seen before the previous Swiss property crisis in the early 1990s. In our view some regions, such as Lake Geneva, Zug, Zurich, and some southern cantons, where price rises have been particularly pronounced, have overheated. (Press Release)
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