Selling property in Lucerne: fewer empty dwellings than a year ago

In Lucerne and the other municipalities of the canton, no official statistic gives a median sale price for a house or flat. That is unlike the Canton of Zurich. Figures circulating online are estimates by portals and models, not an official figure for the city.

Lucerne had 86,699 residents at the end of 2025. It forms its own constituency, the Lucerne-City constituency, one of six in the canton. Between 2014 and 2023, 2,772 new dwellings were built here, only 36 of them single-family houses. So almost all new building in the city was flats, hardly any houses.

What this means for you: a sound figure for your house or flat still needs no guesswork. Location, plot, condition and fit-out can be derived separately. They can be backed with comparable properties. The free assessment gives you a price range in writing, with reasons. How a valuation works is explained under house valuation and flat valuation.

In Lucerne, canton and city levy property gains tax jointly. It is assessed by the municipality where the house stands, here Lucerne. The multiplier does not depend on the yearly municipal rate. By law, it is fixed at 4.2 units, the same in all 79 municipalities of the canton.

Gains up to and including CHF 13,000 stay tax-free. Above that, the whole gain is taxed on the scale for single people, for married couples too. Under 5 full years of ownership, a surcharge of up to 50 per cent applies. After more than 9 years, the tax falls by 1 per cent, plus 1 per cent per further full year, up to 25 per cent. In the worked example, 16 years of ownership means an 8 per cent reduction.

What this means for you: an inheritance does not interrupt the holding period. After inheriting, the purchase by the parents still counts. Of the revenue, the canton keeps 70 per cent, the city of Lucerne 30 per cent.

Property gains tax is not the only charge on a sale. There is also the property transfer tax: 1.5 per cent of the transfer value, usually the purchase price. The buyer owes it, not you. Deals under CHF 20,000 are exempt, which almost never applies to a house sale. The city of Lucerne assesses it, and the canton and the city each receive a share.

Only Lucerne notaries may notarise the purchase contract, under a mixed system of private and municipal notaries. The rules are the same across the whole canton, not set by each municipality. For the land registry entry in Lucerne, the Lucerne East land registry office is responsible, with its office at Meisterstrasse 4 in Kriens. From 1 February 2027, this office is in Emmenbrücke.

What this means for you: the buyer pays the transfer tax, so it does not reduce your proceeds. The purchase contract sets out who pays notary and land registry costs. Settle this before you sign.

On 1 June 2026, 408 dwellings stood empty in the city of Lucerne, a vacancy rate of 0.85 per cent. A year earlier it was still 486 dwellings and 1.01 per cent. That is a marked drop within twelve months.

Across the whole Canton of Lucerne, the rate fell only from 0.78 to 0.70 per cent over the same period. The count fell from 1,665 to 1,503 dwellings, a drop of 162. Of these, 78 were in the city of Lucerne, almost half of the decline across the whole canton.

What this means for you: the count covers all empty dwellings, for rent and for sale, single-family houses included. So the rate does not tell you how many houses are for sale. It shows that free housing in the city has become scarcer. For timing, that is a favourable sign, but it is no substitute for a valuation of your own house or flat.