The cantonal banks are without doubt the best to be with for property mortgages and usually can offer the best rates.

Raiffeisen is a very conservative bank that offers the least services in Switzerland and whilst sharing the name I think you will find that the naughty Raiffeisen is an Austrian Bank and not the honest Swiss genossenschaft. That said I would not be surprised if there were not some cross holdings somewhere...

Richard - our experience of the big 3 (CS, UBS and xKB) is that the Kantonal walk all over the others when it comes to MNW and HNW individuals (Medium and High Net Worth).

Their business model is clearly setup to get as many of those people banking with them as early as possible - in order to hold onto assets as time goes by. The Swiss are notorious for staying with the same bank for a lifetime - and this goes to show when you look at market share of the HNW market space.

The kantonals are also a lot better at adjusting criteria to match individuals, working with you for an optimal solution - and are far more clued up on the property market.

Their RMs are also extremely helpful and efficient.

I could not agree with you more, but they are also independent and receive incentives to offer better rates to first time buyers and those coming from competitors. They have a more personal approach, less red-tape and can cater for more or less every risk appetite.

How much bargaining power does a first-time buyer have compared to someone who's re-mortgaging? I would think that not much, especially if you have to agree on the whole mortgage and have to draw it in tranches at later stages..?

All this discussion is purely academic anyway. There is nothing to buy!!!
I have been desperately looking for a free standing house for about 18months now , north of the city. Just nothing - so depressing

I depends on how many millions you want to spend ;-)
Presently, it seems that everybody is holding their property with an iron grip and only selling if no other possibility exists - the fear of looming inflation on the horizon.
So, sales of houses these days seem to mostly stem from inhertitance, when the kids sell mom and dad's old house.
Which is also only way to get hold of a free standing house in Switzerland these days: property that was build in the early nineties or before, when people where able to afford larger pieces of land.

I don't know where you are looking, but there seems to be a lot of building going on south of the city and quite a few houses for sale in the Zimmerberg area. However, you may mean there's nothing to buy in your price range, which is a different matter. Unfortunately it's not uncommon for people to be looking for 3 or 4 years for the right place.