Selling property in Zug: lower vacancy than the canton as a whole

Unlike the Canton of Zurich, the Canton of Zug publishes no median prices by municipality. A figure from a property portal does not fill that gap. It often mixes unlike properties and whole ranges of years.

What does exist is building data. At the end of 2025, 1,051 of 3,074 buildings with residential use in Zug were single-family houses, 34.2 per cent. In 2024, 76 new flats were built, more than double the 33 built in 2023. Both figures show pace, not price.

The value of your house or flat comes from location, plot and building derived separately, not from one figure for the whole town. A house valuation or flat valuation works with comparable properties from the region. Year of construction and condition count as much as plot size. It also shows whether a price quoted next door fits your house. What this means for you: ask for a derivation, not a blanket figure. The free assessment shows you a price range in writing, with reasoning.

In the Canton of Zug, the tax rate is your return per year of ownership. That return is the gain as a percentage of the investment costs, divided by the years. The rate applies to the whole gain, at least 10 and at most 60 per cent (§ 199 Zug Tax Act).

From year 12, the maximum rate falls by 2.5 percentage points a year; from 25 years it stays at 25 per cent. The municipality collects the tax, but applies no multiplier of its own.

Gains below CHF 5,000 stay tax-free. Documented value-enhancing investments reduce the gain; ordinary maintenance does not. If you sell your owner-occupied home and, as a rule within two years, buy a new one in Switzerland, the tax is deferred. That applies insofar as the proceeds go into the new home. Deferred does not mean waived. What this means for you: the longer you own, the lower the maximum rate, but the return decides the rate.

The Canton of Zug levies no property transfer tax, unlike many other cantons. On a change of ownership, the land registry charges a time-based fee instead. It costs CHF 180 per hour.

On a change of ownership, this fee is multiplied by a factor of 4 until it reaches CHF 6,000. Anything above that counts without the factor. Buyer and seller each pay half, unless the contract says otherwise. Both are jointly liable. The central land registry sits at Aabachstrasse 5 in Zug, responsible for the whole canton.

The purchase contract is notarised by the municipal clerk of the municipality where the house stands, the notary of Zug. Self-employed lawyers may not notarise an ordinary purchase contract. Under the cantonal tariff, notarisation costs CHF 300 to 4,000. What this means for you: budget for fees, not a percentage of the price.