Like the yield on federal bonds, SNB rates have also gone into the red since 2015. Negative rates are reinforced by the situation in Europe where public debts and central bank money supplies are increasing. This situation gives us good reason to believe that the episode of negative rates is far from over.
- Becoming an owner becomes an investment New homeowners now enjoy annual housing costs that are about 15% lower than those of renters for an equivalent unit and therefore a better return on equity of about 5%. Today, becoming an owner is less expensive than renting!
- A rising vacancy rate The low interest rates offered by banks are now encouraging the development of new construction. Indeed, 60% of building permit applications are for rental investment, compared to 50% in 2012. As a result, the number of available housing units is constantly increasing. This progress in the sector can, however, lead to an increase in the vacancy rate of buildings.
- A more attractive housing stock In view of the slightly increasing vacancy, landlords are now forced to offer more attractive housing and are consequently pushed to renovate their property (ies). An evil for good because until now many owners had difficulty in putting their hand in their wallet to refresh their housing (s) to the detriment of the tenants…
- Cheaper mortgages Mortgage rates have fallen due to the competition between banks and mortgage lenders, as these two institutional lenders try to attract new customers as best they can. To do this, they do not hesitate to sacrifice part of their margin on the loans granted, which sometimes makes the mortgage loans more advantageous than what the banks offer.
We will therefore remember that the central banks’ policy of applying negative interest rates leads institutional investors to offer increasingly lower rates. The repercussion on investors is as follows: they can obtain cheaper investments, with better returns and therefore a fully optimized leverage effect!
Search