Last year news started coming out of local government offices in Switzerland that new property restrictions would start to be implemented to slow down the booming construction of second homes. At first the restrictions limited the amount of units that could be sold to non-Swiss people to tens of units per resort while leaving some under developed resorts alone. However at the start of December 2007 those restrictions become even more sweeping leaving many developers with their hands up in the air and potential buyers in a state of confusion with nobody giving a clear explanation of what’s going on.
The primary reasoning for this crude sweeping policy was the lack of infrastructure & rising property prices for locals. Up in the mountains resorts like Crans-Montana, Grimentz & Zermatt where turning into ghost towns. On one hand the local governments had to pay for roads capacity, street lighting, electricity & gas supplies to be upgraded to support the new grid of developments. But at the same time no tax revenue was being generated to justify such an expansion seeing that most units where only occupied on average 6 weeks out of the year.
As of today the exact implications and regulations regarding the purchase of property in Switzerland is not clear, even to the lawyers in Switzerland but we will keep you posted as news comes.
