Geneva affordability calculator: your maximum price
Enter the household's gross annual income, your equity outside the 2nd pillar and the pension assets you can mobilise: the calculator returns your affordability: the maximum price, the constraint that limits it, the cash to bring together including purchase costs, and the imputed costs.
Your household
Parameters as of 16 September 2026: 20 % equity of which 10 % outside the 2nd pillar (SBA guidelines), 80 % mortgage, 2nd rank amortised over 15 years, 5 % theoretical rate, 1 % maintenance, charges capped at one third of gross income; Geneva purchase costs ≈ 4 % of the price + 2.5 % of the loan, Casatax rebate CHF 20'924 up to CHF 1'394'928. Indicative estimate: each bank applies its own parameters.
What the calculator applies
The maximum price results from two ceilings calculated separately, and the lower one prevails. The first comes from equity: banks finance at most 80% of the price, the buyer brings 20%, and at least 10% of that share must come from something other than the 2nd pillar, under the guidelines of the Swiss Bankers Association. Purchase costs, paid outside the mortgage, are added to that cash.
The second ceiling comes from income. The property's imputed costs, calculated at an interest rate of 5% on the debt, with the amortisation of the second-rank mortgage over 15 years and a maintenance allowance of 1% of the price, do not exceed a third of the household's gross income. This imputed interest rate deliberately exceeds market rates: the bank checks that the household can hold up if rates rise.
The Geneva purchase costs used amount to around 4% of the price for the deed of sale and 2.5% of the amount borrowed for the mortgage note. When the home serves as the main residence and the price does not exceed 1,394,928 francs, the Casatax discount of 20,924 francs on the transfer duty and the halving of the duty on the mortgage note are deducted.
How to read the result
The "Constraint that limits the budget" line tells you what is missing. If it is equity, each additional franc of savings opens up 3.85 to 6.25 francs of price, depending on the share the 2nd pillar already covers; if it is income, only a higher income or a contribution well above 20% changes the result. The cash to bring together combines the required equity and the costs: it is the amount you need in an account on the day of the deed.
The result is an estimate. Each institution applies its own parameters, weighs bonuses or rental income differently, and uses a lending value that may be lower than the price paid. The full mechanics, the accepted sources of equity and the cantonal assistance schemes are detailed in the first-time property purchase guide for Geneva.