By René Murmann
Lake Geneva real estate concentrates especially around the city of Lausanne where regularly lakefront properties are on the market. The demand of wealthy foreigners has heated up the market with luxury properties in Switzerland.
In Pully, a municipality neighbor of Lausanne lies the "Avenue Général Guisan". Here lives who has a reputation and more and more also the super wealthy.Click here to read more about the city of Lausanne
Stunning views at Lake Geneva 
Besides Pully, there are also the neighboring towns of Paudex, Lutry, Villette and Cully located to the east (driving in the direction of Vevey and Montreux) and St. Sulpice to the west (driving in the direction of Geneva) very respectable.
Besides Pully, there are also the neighboring towns of Paudex, Lutry, Villette and Cully located to the east (driving in the direction of Vevey and Montreux) and St. Sulpice to the west (driving in the direction of Geneva) very respectable.
If you live and own in Lausanne, the world capital of the Olympic Committee, you are most likely well set financially. Of course, not all real estate in that area is worth 3 million Swiss francs and up. There are properties that are less, sometimes substantially less.
The preferential suburbs of Lausanne are Rumine, Verneil and Ouchy. The first two are higher up overlooking the city and the lake. Ouchy on the other hand is located directly on the lake. These are prime Lake Geneva real estate locations.
Lausanne itself offers practically no individual lakefront property anymore. Two thirds are covered by public facilities, docks and a gravel assortment facility. One third involves the prominent quay by the Olympic museum with its avenue until to the town border. For this reason, you will discover the best lakefront locations begin beyond the border in the mentioned "Avenue Général Guisan".
You notice right away that this is a prestige-laden environment and very much in request.
However, prestige does not mean shine and glory. When you walk along this avenue, you will be surprised how strong the normal still is and the rural almost dominates. Here, you find also historical chalets as well as small country houses with skew walls and sometimes even rusted gutters.
Lake Geneva... a place to discover high-end Swiss real estate
In these gardens mature quinces for jam and carrots, lettuce and other vegetables wait for the harvest.
They testify from a generation of inhabitants who relocated here before the Second World War and the optimized management of real estate portfolio still has no meaning to them.
Along the residential zone on the lake in Pully, there really is a substantial developing potential waiting. Here, the average Lake Geneva real estate market price is a moderate 1,750 Swiss francs a square meter. This is reasonable in compare to other locations close by. Nowhere is the crossing of private and public interests more visible than here. Most properties dispose over the rights of a landing stage, buoy or a boat house.
For this reason, some Lake Geneva real estate locations have private bridges which lead directly to the water and don’t hinder the public. The local people here are very active and enjoy walking, running or biking on shore of Lake Geneva. We go there quite often during the summer, but closer to the city of Montreux. It is a good place to have coffee and maybe lunch in one of the many restaurants on the lake.
The cost of owning real estate on the Swiss Riviera
Determining for the demand and therefore the price is the micro location. An actual offer in the town of Cully for a property of 1,300 square meters amounts to about 3,7 million Swiss francs, 2,800 francs per square meter.
Newly built apartments located directly on shore in Pully and Lutry sell for 1,3 to 2,0 million Swiss francs. Here the cost per square meter hovers between 12,000 to 15,000 francs.
When looking at the Swiss property market of the past five years, it shows that Lake Geneva real estate prices increased partly more than 55 percent. In some municipalities like Cologny and Bellerive close to Geneva, prices climbed more than 70 percent. The front runners are definitely the municipalities located directly on the lake.
Development began in 1997 / 1998 when lakefront real estate was about 800 Swiss francs a square meter. This compared to Zurich during the seventies. Today, you pay from 1500 to 2000 Swiss francs a square meter. However, depending on market conditions, this price level may not stand for long.
Regardless of the holding term, you may see real estate as a lump risk. Maybe it is even a large, but also a not liquid part of your whole portfolio. We all know that real estate prices can change very fast through various circumstances beyond our control.
On the other hand, big trends might not change over night. Many real estate agents in Switzerland recommend still investing in the city centers like Zurich and Geneva with its suburbs. Exactly there, where the economically strongest growth parameters occur and therefore the highest growth in population takes place – that is where we should buy residential property.
Most foreigners know only Zurich and Geneva and a few Swiss ski resorts. The suction to Zurich is unbroken but at the end, the top locations are still relatively moderate in compare to London or Paris.
Lump-sum taxation is possible for those who ask for it
The dynamism of the location of Lausanne strongly depends on the demand of foreigners. Especially French nationals look increasingly for residential property. Of course, there are other foreign nationals like from England, Germany, Russia, the Far East and even China who relocate to the Lake Geneva area.
If you are European, it is a bit easier to acquire residential Swiss real estate, especially when you decide moving to Switzerland. The settlement of wealthy Non-Europeans is certainly more complicated but certainly not impossible.
An important argument might be the lump-sum taxation. The Swiss cantons grant every year a large number of agreements for the lump-sum taxation of assets. These agreements are reserved for foreign nationals only who want to relocate and live in Switzerland.
The experience shows that it is worthwhile if you possess assets above ten million Swiss francs. Below that, it is better to run with a normal taxation.
