Swiss mortgage interest rates rise slightly

Mortgage interest rates rise slightly despite SNB zero interest rate Keystone-SDA

Interest rates for mortgages in Switzerland rose slightly in the fourth quarter of 2025 despite the unchanged key interest rate of 0%. They are therefore back above the level seen in early autumn.

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The Swiss National Bank (SNB) left the key interest rate unchanged in December, as expected by many economists. Nevertheless, mortgage interest rates rose in the fourth quarter of 2025, as an analysis published on Tuesday by the comparison portal Comparis shows.

The benchmark rate for ten-year fixed-rate mortgages, which Comparis calculates based on the reference interest rates published by 30 banks, was 1.91% at the end of December, 0.23 percentage points higher than at the end of September. For five-year fixed-rate mortgages, the benchmark rate climbed from 1.39% to 1.61%.

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Higher capital market interest rates

According to Comparis, the increase is primarily due to higher capital market interest rates. The yield on ten-year federal bonds was 0.33% at the end of December, 0.13 percentage points higher than at the end of September. At the same time, the banks’ refinancing costs increased. In addition, many banks have widened their margins.

This effect is particularly visible in the case of Saron mortgages, whose interest rate currently only consists of the margin. First-rate Saron mortgages were offered in a range of 0.8% to 1.2% at the end of December, whereas three months ago the range was still between 0.7% and 1.2%.

Meanwhile, ten-year fixed-rate mortgages were available at 1.5% to 1.9% compared to 1.3% to 1.8% at the end of September. For five-year fixed-rate mortgages, the interest rate is between 1.2% and 1.6% after 1% to 1.5%.

Adapted from German by AI/ts

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