Swiss Divided over Restricting Real Estate Market for Foreigners

SWISSINFO.CH: The consultation on the planned tightening of the Lex Koller law has revealed a deep divide between the political camps. Whilst business organisations and estate agents warn of serious disadvantages, political parties on both the left and right welcome the proposal.

The Swiss government intends to respond to the tight situation on the housing market by tightening the rules. In future, people living abroad will no longer be allowed to buy shares in listed residential property companies. The consultation on the plans ended on Wednesday.

The left-wing Social Democrat Party and right-wing Swiss People’s Party supported the proposal. They argued that foreign capital was driving up property prices. » | SWI | Wednesday, July 15, 2026

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Swiss government to tighten foreign property ownership »

Toronto Housing Slump Deepens
Sales down 29% in the first two weeks of August compared to year ago. Photo: The Globe and Mail
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: The slump in housing sales accelerated in August, the Greater Toronto Real Estate Board said.

Sales in Toronto were down 29 per cent in the first two weeks of August compared to last year. The average sale price was $412,934, 3.5 per cent lower than mid-July.

The number of new listings were 8 per cent lower than last year at 4,770.

“It makes sense that the number of transactions has dipped over the past few months in comparison to last year's record results,” said board president Bill Johnston. >>> | Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Slump Moves from Wall Street to Main Street
NEW YORK TIMES: In Seattle, sales at a long-established hardware store, Pacific Supply, are suddenly dipping. In Oklahoma City, couples planning their weddings are demonstrating uncustomary thrift, forgoing Dungeness crab and special linens. And in many cities, the registers at department stores like Nordstrom on the higher end and J. C. Penney in the middle are ringing less often.

With Wall Street caught in a credit crisis that has captured headlines, the forces assailing the economy are now spreading beyond areas hit hardest by the boom-turned-bust in real estate like California, Florida and Nevada. Now, the downturn is seeping into new parts of the country, to communities that seemed insulated only months ago.

The broadening of the slowdown, the plunge in home prices and near-paralysis in the financial system are fueling worries that what most economists now see as an inevitable recession could end up being especially painful.

Indeed, some economists fear it will last longer and inflict more bite on workers and businesses than the last two recessions, which gripped the economy in 2001 and for eight months straddling 1990 and 1991. This time, these experts say, a recession in which economic activity falls over a sustained period and joblessness rises across the board could even persist into next year. Slump Moves from Wall St. to Main St. >>> By Peter S. Goodman | March 21, 2008

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