Mortgage reference interest rate remains unchanged for the time being

The Federal Office for Housing (BWO) is leaving the mortgage reference interest rate at 1.75 percent, as it wrote in a press release on Monday. But it was close.

Last year, the reference interest rate climbed in two steps from 1.25 to 1.75 percent and has remained at this level ever since. Some landlords took the increases as an opportunity to raise rents significantly - in some cases by more than 10 percent.

Just short of a reduction

To determine the reference interest rate, the BWO relies on the quarterly average interest rate for domestic mortgage loans from Swiss banks. According to the BWO, this has fallen to 1.63% compared to the previous quarter (1.67%).

The reference interest rate is rounded up or down to the nearest quarter of a percent. For a reduction, the average interest rate would have had to fall to 1.625%. Even experts had not been able to decide in advance whether the reference interest rate would fall in December.

The mortgage reference interest rate will next be published on March 3, 2025.