Alpine Climes Are the Perfect Habitat for Real-Estate Bubbles

Foreigners keep pouring (their money) into Switzerland, partying like it's 2007, and the powers that be can't seem to do a thing about it. But they're trying.

The country, which already has more stringent capital rules for its banks than other European nations, said lenders would be required to hold an additional 1 percent of risk-weighted assets to make the financial system more stable in light of an “excessive rise in prices in the real estate market and exorbitant mortgage debt.” Banks have until Sept. 30 to comply….

An index created by the Swiss bank UBS measuring the likelihood of a Swiss property bubble was “clearly in the risk zone,” the bank wrote in a note to investors this month.

In the final three months of 2012, house prices soared to six times the annual average Swiss household income compared with about four times in 2000, according to the bank. It called the ever-rising demand for properties not intended for personal use “remarkable.”

In Frothy Real Estate Market, Switzerland Tightens Capital Rules on Banks [DealBook]