Dream Home Study 2026: Röstigraben on the Way to Home Ownership

Two Regions, Two Paths to Home Ownership

The desire for a single-family home in the countryside remains unbroken in Switzerland. This is shown by the current Dream Home Study 2026 by MoneyPark and Helvetia, for which a total of 1,000 people were surveyed representatively between January and February 2026. Among the participants, 45 percent are owners and 55 percent are tenants, 75 percent are from German-speaking Switzerland and 25 percent from Western Switzerland. The study confirms a stable fundamental finding over recent years: the desire for home ownership remains consistently high in the population.

The regional division is remarkable. In Western Switzerland, the desire for ownership is stronger than in German-speaking Switzerland. At the same time, the strategies for achieving ownership differ. In German-speaking Switzerland, the path is dominated by individual saving and diligently building up the required equity. Western Switzerland, on the other hand, has stronger expectations of political measures, such as tax incentives, facilitations for equity contributions, or targeted support programs. This Röstigraben is not new, but appears more pronounced than ever in the current survey.

What Drives the Western Swiss Desire

Several reasons explain the stronger demand for home ownership in Romandy. The home ownership rate in cantons such as Vaud, Geneva, and Neuchâtel has traditionally been lower than in Valais or Central Swiss cantons. Accordingly, social comparison with neighboring countries like France, where the rate is significantly higher, is often more influential in Western Switzerland. The lack of affordable home ownership around Geneva and Lausanne further increases the desire for political incentives.

Added to this are rental costs, which have risen sharply in the urban parts of Romandy in recent years. For many young households in Lausanne or Geneva, a purchase, despite high prices, becomes more attractive in calculations because the effective monthly cost with a mortgage is close to the current rent. This shifts the question of entry more towards affordability, and less towards a lifestyle decision.

Abolition of Imputed Rental Value Already Having Impact

The planned abolition of the imputed rental value from 2029 is a second focus of the study. The reform fundamentally changes the taxation logic of home ownership. Instead of taxing the imputed rental value as fictitious income, deductions for mortgage interest and maintenance costs will also largely disappear. For highly indebted owners who intensively use the interest deduction, this means a disadvantage. For owners who amortize and are well-financed, the reform means simplification and often noticeable relief.

The study shows that this is already reflected in respondents’ behavior. The willingness for voluntary amortization has decreased compared to previous years. An originally expected renovation boom ahead of the abolition has largely failed to materialize so far, although some craft businesses report additional orders. Mortgage banks expect the trend towards maintaining or even increasing mortgage debt will intensify in the coming years.

What This Means for Financing Decisions

For buyers in the financing phase, the reform has two specific consequences. First, it puts the advantage of indirect amortization via pillar 3a into perspective. As long as the interest deduction remains, avoiding direct repayment pays off because the tax savings partially offset the higher interest costs. With the abolition of the imputed rental value, this effect disappears and direct amortization becomes attractive again. Second, the logic for using pension fund assets changes. Those who provide equity more from their own assets will get lower mortgages, but after the reform will no longer lose any significant tax deduction.

For owners with an existing mortgage, another question arises: Is it worth amortizing in advance already today? The answer depends on the current interest rate, the marginal tax rate, and age. Highly taxed earners will continue to benefit from the deductions until 2029 and should generally stick with their current financing. Retired households with a lower marginal tax rate, on the other hand, have significantly fewer advantages and may consider gradually reducing their mortgage.

What the Study Means for the Market

For mortgage banks, the trend towards higher and longer-term mortgages is likely to continue. The study results contradict the expectation that the imputed rental value reform would lead to a wave of debt reduction. Instead, much points to owners taking advantage of the tax-favorable period until 2029 and deliberately keeping their mortgage. After the reform, a phase could follow in which more direct amortizations are made, but then at a time when many households have already planned for retirement.

For the real estate market as a whole, the study reinforces the expectation of regionally different dynamics. Western Switzerland is likely to push the discussion of home ownership policy more strongly at federal and cantonal levels, while German-speaking Switzerland continues to try to close the gap to the desire for ownership individually through saving and pension provision. For mortgage borrowers, it remains important to consider their own situation independently of average values. The factors of income, age, tax burden, and personal goals determine the optimal financing mix more than the general market sentiment.

Study Conclusion and Classification

The Dream Home Study 2026 confirms a persistently high desire for home ownership and at the same time shows how differently the Swiss regions deal with it. German-speaking Switzerland relies on personal saving, Western Switzerland on political frameworks. The abolition of the imputed rental value from 2029 is already affecting amortization behavior today, but not as widely as expected. For the mortgage industry, this means: less deleveraging, more strategic financial planning, and a stronger focus on individual advice. For potential buyers, it is worthwhile to look at their own numbers, tax burden, and time horizon. There is no one-size-fits-all answer, and that is one of the central messages of this study.