Crédit Agricole Financements: «Buying a Home Cheaper Than Renting in 2017»

Pierre Fortis heads the lending and bank product divisions of Crédit Agricole Financements (Suisse) S.A. and is part of the bank’s executive team.

How would you describe the Swiss mortgage market in 2017?

Mortgage rates are very low at the moment while the price of residential property has stabilized as a whole. That means that current conditions favor the purchase of a house or apartment. In 2017, buying a home works out cheaper than renting.

What is the better solution right now: a LIBOR-based or fixed-rate mortgage?

The interest rates of LIBOR-based mortgages are linked to developments in financial markets. Fixed-rate mortgages, on the other hand, guarantee stable mortgage costs across the contract term.

Crédit Agricole Financements recommends that mortgages be split up into multiple installments based on the borrower’s profile. This allows us to offer exceptionally favorable conditions on the one hand. On the other hand, mortgage splitting also helps to reduce the risk posed by possible rate hikes.

Why should borrowers choose Crédit Agricole Financements?

Crédit Agricole has operations around the world, and is one of Europe’s largest providers of mortgage products for individuals.

Crédit Agricole subsidiary Crédit Agricole Financements is an official bank under Swiss law. It operates both in the French-speaking and German-speaking parts of Switzerland and offers a broad palette of financial services. We specialize in property finance and are attentive to the individual needs of our customers. Our goal is to provide sound consultation and customized solutions to our customers mortgage and retirement planning needs.

What is the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of Crédit Agricole Financements?

We place a strong emphasis on the training and certification of our customer consultants. That education empowers our representatives to provide our customers with quality consultation that matches their specific needs.

Additionally, we constantly work to improve our processes to deliver the best customer experience possible.

We have consistently been able to offer very competitive interest rates and innovative products for many years now. For example, we offer mortgages for second homes in France. Our new offer “CA 2 en 1” lets borrowers take out a construction loan which is automatically converted to a mortgage when construction is complete. Our affordable split mortgage is another example.

What are the advantages of a split mortgage?

As part of a special promotion, we are offering discounted interest rates to borrowers who split their mortgage into at least 2 installments. Our special rates are exceptional in that they can be applied to as much as 50% of a mortgage and are just 0.75% for 3 years, 1% for 5 years and 1.15% for 10 years. Rates can be fixed up to 4 months ahead of the mortgage term without any increase in fees and charges.

The new split mortgage lets our customers minimize the risk of a rate hike while benefiting from ongoing low interest rates.

In which Swiss cantons does Crédit Agricole Financements have a presence?

We have branch offices in Geneva, Basel, Zurich, Yverdon, Fribourg, Neuchâtel and La Chaux-de-Fonds. We will be opening two additional branches in the summer.

Is it possible to mortgage a property with Crédit Agricole Financements online?

An online mortgage platform which lets borrowers mortgage a home entirely online will be launched shortly. An online mortgage calculator is already available. Our mortgages are presented on our website and visitors can easily place a request for free consultation online.

More information:
Crédit Agricole Financements: Mortgages