On this page
Suppose you bought a house in the City of Zurich in 2007, at the then median of CHF 950,000. In 2025 the median stood at CHF 2,880,000. On paper, that is a gain of CHF 1,930,000.
Two questions follow. How much of it does tax take? In the example CHF 426,384, or 14.8 per cent of the price. And does the city median apply to you at all? For flats in 2025 it was CHF 950,000 in District 4 and CHF 2,370,000 in District 7. Zurich is not one market but twelve.
And if you are selling a flat: which price applies in your district?
Worked example
Worked example, City of Zurich: house, 18 years of ownership
Assumption: bought in 2007 and sold in 2025, each at the City of Zurich median for single-family houses, without investments, costs or a replacement purchase. In 2007, 139 houses were sold on the open market in the city.
- Sale price (median 2025, provisional)
- CHF 2,880,000
- Purchase price (median 2007)
- – CHF 950,000
- Property gain
- CHF 1,930,000
- Tax per tariff, before reduction
- CHF 761,400
- Reduction for 18 full years: 44%
- – CHF 335,016
- Property gains tax
- CHF 426,384
- Remaining after tax, before mortgage
- CHF 2,453,616
Which price applies to your flat in the City of Zurich?
The city median helps little. For condominiums it stood at CHF 1,681,598 in 2025, from 720 sales.4 Across the districts it ranges from CHF 950,000 in District 4 to CHF 2,370,000 in District 7. Per square metre of living space it ranges from CHF 13,595 in District 4 to CHF 24,000 in District 1. The District 1 figure rests on just 5 sales.
Nor is the direction the same everywhere. In District 4 the median per flat was lower in 2025 than in 2015. Per square metre it fell only slightly, from CHF 14,263 to CHF 13,595. That may be because smaller flats were sold. In Districts 6 and 10, the price per square metre has more than doubled since 2015.
What this means for you: work with the price per square metre of your district, not of the whole city. Even that is only an average. It does not show the floor, layout or condition of your flat.
| District | Flat 2025: median / per m² (sales) | Aged 65+ / vacancy |
|---|---|---|
| District 1 | CHF 1,150,000 / CHF 24,000 (5) | 18.0% / 0.126% |
| District 2 | CHF 1,742,500 / CHF 18,610 (48) | 14.2% / 0.083% |
| District 3 | CHF 1,435,000 / CHF 17,048 (27–33) | 11.9% / 0.072% |
| District 4 | CHF 950,000 / CHF 13,595 (21) | 9.2% / 0.121% |
| District 5 | CHF 2,150,000 / CHF 20,492 (29) | 9.1% / 0.045% |
| District 6 | CHF 1,820,000 / CHF 19,376 (43) | 12.7% / 0.149% |
| Whole city | CHF 1,681,598 / CHF 17,646 (720) | 13.9% / 0.106% |
| District | Flat 2025: median / per m² (sales) | Aged 65+ / vacancy |
|---|---|---|
| District 7 | CHF 2,370,000 / CHF 21,464 (142) | 20.1% / 0.122% |
| District 8 | CHF 1,880,000 / CHF 19,531 (33) | 15.4% / 0.120% |
| District 9 | CHF 1,500,000 / CHF 16,083 (140) | 14.5% / 0.113% |
| District 10 | CHF 1,515,000 / CHF 19,000 (95) | 16.0% / 0.060% |
| District 11 | CHF 1,550,000 / CHF 15,392 (112) | 12.8% / 0.144% |
| District 12 | CHF 1,650,000 / CHF 15,000 (25) | 14.1% / 0.071% |
| Whole city | CHF 1,681,598 / CHF 17,646 (720) | 13.9% / 0.106% |
Why does tax take so much of the price in Zurich?
Because the gain is large, not because the city charges more. Property gains tax follows one tariff across the canton; the municipality levies it with no multiplier.1 The city tax rate of 119 per cent applies to income and wealth.3 But the tariff rises with the gain. The house median roughly tripled since 2007.
So CHF 426,384 goes to tax, 22.1 per cent of the gain and 14.8 per cent of the price. Among Zurich municipalities with an official house comparison, only Küsnacht has a higher share.2 For a flat at the canton's city medians, it is CHF 221,424.
Two levers are yours. From 20 full years of ownership the tax is halved.1 With the same gain, CHF 380,700 would be due, CHF 45,684 less. A 2007 purchase reaches it in 2027. And the receipts: value-adding investments reduce the gain, ordinary maintenance does not. What this means for you: check date and receipts before setting a timeline.
| Indicator | City of Zurich | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price (99 sales) | CHF 2,880,000 | 2025, provisional |
| Median condominium price (690 sales) | CHF 1,745,000 | 2025, provisional |
| Median house / flat (139 / 522 sales) | CHF 950,000 / CHF 730,000 | 2007 |
| Residential building land per m² (cantonal model) | CHF 7,836 (2015: CHF 3,070) | 2025, provisional |
| Residents, of whom 65 and over | 452,421, of whom 62,767 (13.9%) | 2025 |
| Vacant dwellings | 252 of 238,459 (0.106%) | 1 June 2026 |
| Tax rate city / total, excl. church | 119% / 214% | 2026 |
| Municipal value capture levy | 40% of the gain in value minus CHF 100,000 | in force since 01.04.2022 |
Where to after the sale, when hardly any flats stand empty?
In District 7, roughly one person in five is 65 or older, more than in any other district.6 Downsizing in the city means searching a tight market. On 1 June 2026, 252 of 238,459 dwellings stood empty, 0.106 per cent.7 In 2016 the share was about twice as high.
Did you live in the flat permanently and exclusively? Buy another owner-occupied home in Switzerland within a reasonable period, and the tax is deferred on application.1 If the new home costs less than the proceeds but more than your investment costs, the difference is taxable at once. If it costs no more than those, there is none.14 The deferred part is taxed on a later sale without another replacement.14
Where you live next also counts. In Kilchberg you pay about 22 per cent less cantonal and municipal tax on the same income, excluding church tax. In Winterthur it is about 3 per cent more.3 What this means for you: plan your next home before you commit to the sale.
What applies to the value capture levy in the City of Zurich?
Since 1 April 2022, the city has charged its own levy. Its building regulations state that the levy amounts to forty per cent of the gain in value minus CHF 100,000.8 Cantonal law allows no municipality more.10 Plots under 1,200 square metres are exempt, unless the gain in value exceeds CHF 250,000.810 Only the rise in value from upzoning or rezoning is covered, that is, when more or something different may newly be built.
The levy only falls due on development, not on sale.11 If you sell first, the obligation passes to the buyer and belongs in the sale contract.10 For an upzoned or rezoned plot it therefore affects the price buyers can pay. For an ordinary flat sale it usually plays no role. More in the guide to the value capture levy.
I calculate with the price per square metre in your district, your purchase price and your receipts. That way you see what remains after tax before you commit.
Prefer to talk? +41 76 325 11 95 – you speak directly with Dominik Devaja.
Twelve districts
Prices by quarter: the page for your district
- Selling property in District 1What do flats cost in the quarters of District 1?
- Selling property in District 2What do flats cost in the quarters of District 2?
- Selling property in District 3What do flats cost in the quarters of District 3?
- Selling property in District 4What do flats cost in the quarters of District 4?
- Selling property in District 5What do flats cost in the quarters of District 5?
- Selling property in District 6What do flats cost in the quarters of District 6?
- Selling property in District 7What do flats cost in the quarters of District 7?
- Selling property in District 8What do flats cost in the quarters of District 8?
- Selling property in District 9What do flats cost in the quarters of District 9?
- Selling property in District 10What do flats cost in the quarters of District 10?
- Selling property in District 11What do flats cost in the quarters of District 11?
- Selling property in District 12What do flats cost in the quarters of District 12?
Estate agent in City of Zurich
Selling in City of Zurich with Immosmile: four phases, one contact person
I support sales throughout the Canton of Zurich, including City of Zurich. Through all four phases you have one contact person: me, Dominik Devaja, managing director of Immosmile. You pay nothing beforehand. Our fee falls due only when you sign the contract at the notary (Beurkundung).
-
Clarity
Independent valuation, net calculation after taxes and costs, a look at what comes after. You decide on figures, not on hearsay.
-
Preview
Before anyone sees your house, film, photography and exposé are produced. Then we show it to vetted buyers first – not yet on the portals.
-
Market decision
You receive the demand report and every offer immediately. Then you choose the path to the best price: accept, bidding round – or the broad public phase on the portals, the normal case.
-
Completion & move
Notary appointment, key handover, documents for what comes after – and, if you wish, guidance into your next home. Our fee only falls due now, with the notarised deed.
The full process in detail What is your property in City of Zurich worth?
What else do owners in the City of Zurich ask?
How do I find the right estate agent in the City of Zurich?
I work from Zurich, in the city and across the canton. What matters is whether someone derives the price for your district, includes the tax and shows in writing what you keep. The comparison of estate agents in Zurich shows which agent models exist. 12 questions to ask help in the conversation.
How is my house valued if there is no house price for my district?
For 2025, the city statistics show no sale of a whole single-family house in Districts 1, 4 and 8.5 A comparison figure from your own district is then missing. The value has to be derived from the house itself: land, building, condition and sales in comparable locations.
What is the land under my house in Zurich worth?
The canton's model puts residential building land in the city at CHF 7,836 per square metre in 2025, the highest value of the 160 municipalities.12 The median actually paid in the city from 2021 to 2025 was CHF 6,747, across the canton CHF 1,742. For your plot, zone, permitted floor area and location count.
Are the 2025 house prices final?
Not yet. The canton lists the last three years as provisional. The CHF 2,880,000 for houses in the city may therefore still shift.
Sources
- Tax Act of the Canton of Zurich (StG ZH, LS 631.1), §§ 205, 216(3)(i), 219, 221, 225 (Nachtrag 132), in German · as of 1.4.2026, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Canton of Zurich, Office for Statistics and Data: Freihandverkäufe von Immobilien inkl. Medianpreisen seit 2007 (KTZH_00000077) · data as of 2025/Q4, 2023–2025 values provisional, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Canton of Zurich, Statistical Office: municipal tax rates 2026, in German · as of 24.03.2026, final
- Statistik Stadt Zürich: median sale prices per flat and per m² of living space in condominiums, by quarter and district (BAU515OD5157), in German · year 2025, retrieved 15.10.2026
- Statistik Stadt Zürich: property market, median prices and number of transfers by building type, city, districts and quarters (BAU514OD5144), in German · year 2025, retrieved 15.10.2026
- Statistik Stadt Zürich: population by age, quarter and district (BEV331OD3310), share aged 65+ own count, in German · year 2025, retrieved 15.10.2026
- Statistik Stadt Zürich: vacant dwellings by quarter and district (BAU542OD5427), rate own count, in German · reference date 1.6.2026, retrieved 15.10.2026
- Building and zoning regulations of the City of Zurich (BZO 2016), art. 81d «Kommunaler Mehrwertausgleich», in German · version of the municipal council decision of 7.7.2021, in force since 1.4.2022 (STRB No. 105/2022), retrieved 15.10.2026
- Building Department, Canton of Zurich: status of value capture levies in the municipalities (map), in German · retrieved 15.10.2026
- Value Capture Act of the Canton of Zurich (MAG, LS 700.9), §§ 6, 7, 19(1)–(4), 20, in German · Nachtrag 134, retrieved 15.10.2026
- Value Capture Ordinance of the Canton of Zurich (MAV, LS 700.91), § 21, in German · retrieved 09.10.2026
- Canton of Zurich, Office for Statistics and Data: property prices in the Canton of Zurich, residential building land in CHF/m² (KTZH_00003158), in German · transfer statistics 2025/Q4, published 4.5.2026, 2022–2025 values provisional, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Government Council, Canton of Zurich: RRB No. 42/2026, cantonal tax rate 2026 (95%), in German · dated 14.01.2026
- Zurich Finance Directorate: ZStB 216.3, deferral on replacement purchase, margin nos. 21–24 and 28 (the special provision § 226a cited there was repealed on 1.1.2021; the basis today is § 216(3)(i) StG), in German · as of 1.2.2018, retrieved 15.10.2026
General information without guarantee, not individual advice. The law, the tax assessment and advice from professionals for your situation are what count. Terms of use
