Mortgage interest rates have in the last ten years dropped to a level that has made home ownership affordable for many people.
Thomas Jordan of the SNB recently told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the lending policies of banks as "not very conservative." In other words, the likelihood is there that mortgage lenders would also be awarded to people with poor credit ratings.
Source in DE (
crude EN translation )
Some interesting figures:
New dwellings built per year:
2004: 36'935
2005: 37'958
2006: 41'989
2007: 42'915
2008: 44'191
2009: 39'733
57.6% of all buildings are detached houses.
The average area per dwelling equivalent to 98 m2
The average living space per person is 44 m2
Occupancy per apartment: 2.3
Home ownership rate: 34.6%