SWITZERLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Francis Nordmann, Johannes Bürgi, Christian Eichenberger and André Kuhn, Walder Wyss Ltd
1. General 1.1 Main Sources of Law
2. Sale and Purchase 2.1 Categories of Property Rights The categories of property rights that can be acquired are: • freehold; • leasehold; • co-ownership; and • storey-ownership rights. 2.2 Laws Applicable to Transfer of Title Transfer of title is primarily regulated by the Swiss Civil Code and the Federal Ordinance of Land Registry. The transfer of residential real estate to any foreign person is generally restrict - ed, according to the Federal Law on the Acquisi - tion of Real Estate by Persons Abroad (the Lex Koller). Tax issues also have to be considered, although these differ from canton to canton. 2.3 Effecting Lawful and Proper Transfer of Title The transfer of real estate is registered at the competent land registry. Any buyer of real estate acting in good faith is protected by the infor - mation contained in the land registry, so no title As registration is conclusive, legal due diligence involves analysing the land register extract and its supporting documents, which shows all rel - evant property information. In addition, any existing leases must be examined, since these are transferred to the buyer as the new land- lord upon the purchase of the property. Another aspect of due diligence relates to environmental law. In addition to legal due diligence, prudent buy - ers also perform tax, technical and financial insurance is required in Switzerland. 2.4 Real Estate Due Diligence
The main sources of real estate law in Switzer - land are the Swiss Civil Code and the Swiss Code of Obligations. 1.2 Main Market Trends and Deals Due to the decrease in interest rates resulting from lower inflation, Switzerland’s real estate industry started to regain its momentum in 2024, with prices stabilising or increasing. As a result, the transaction volume significantly increased in the second half of 2024. Due to the purchase of Credit Suisse by UBS, the financing of real estate became more difficult as margins had been increased, and also in view of the new equity requirements of banks under Basel III. This offered new opportunities for mez - zanine financing There were a few large real estate transactions in Switzerland in 2024, with Hyatt Zurich being most likely the most sophisticated and complex one. Overall, hotel transactions significantly increased as a result of post-COVID business sharply improving. Disruptive technologies and proptech compa - nies so far have had no material impact on the real estate industry. 1.3 Proposals for Reform There are currently no planned reforms that might affect real estate in Switzerland on a fed - eral level, but it has become obvious that ESG will have a significant impact on real estate in the coming years.
982 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook