On this page
- How does a property in Greifensee get a figure without any median?
- What does the land model show in Greifensee?
- What reduces the property gains tax on a sale in Greifensee?
- What matters in Greifensee besides the price?
- Is there a value capture levy in Greifensee?
- Estate agent in Greifensee
- Frequently asked questions
- Nearby
Suppose you look for an official benchmark for a house in Greifensee. You will not find one. Neither 2025 nor 2015 nor 2007 shows one in the statistics.
The same holds for flats. In 2025 only 3 houses and 14 condominiums changed hands in the village; in 2015 it was 2 and 8, in 2007 it was 7 and 13. The canton only works out a median from at least 15 sales a year. Greifensee never reaches that threshold, for either type of property, in any of the three years.
How does a property in Greifensee get a figure without any median?
Worked example
Worked example, Greifensee: flat at the district median, 10 years of ownership
Assumption: a flat at the median of Uster district, bought in 2015 and sold in 2025, without investments or costs. Greifensee itself has no median in any of these years.
- Sale price (district median 2025, provisional)
- CHF 1,075,500
- Purchase price (district median 2015)
- – CHF 905,000
- Property gain
- CHF 170,500
- Tax per tariff, before reduction
- CHF 57,600
- Reduction for 10 full years: 20%
- – CHF 11,520
- Property gains tax
- CHF 46,080
- Remaining after tax, before mortgage
- CHF 1,029,420
How does a property in Greifensee get a figure without any median?
Through the district, as a first step. The district of Uster, to which Greifensee belongs, has enough sales for an official median. In 2025, 534 condominiums changed hands there, at a median of CHF 1,075,500.2 In 2015 it was 508 sales. The median then was CHF 905,000, a rise of 19 per cent in ten years.
A district median is not a price for a flat in Greifensee itself, though. It mixes sales from across the district, from the town of Uster to smaller municipalities. The district also has a figure for houses. In 2025 a house in Uster district cost a median of CHF 1,750,000, from 246 sales.2
What this means for you: the district of Uster sets an order of magnitude, not a price for your property. A figure that fits your own house or flat needs location, plot and building derived separately. Comparable properties from close by are the basis for that, not a measure drawn from the whole district.
What does the land model show in Greifensee?
The cantonal model puts residential building land in Greifensee at CHF 2,111 per square metre for 2025.7 In 2015 it was still CHF 1,211, a rise of 74.3 per cent in ten years. Typically the model ranges from CHF 1,467 to CHF 3,049 per square metre.
For the canton as a whole there is a second measure. Residential building land actually sold for a median of CHF 1,742 in 2021 to 2025.7 The two figures come from different methods and give only a rough guide; Greifensee's model value sits well above the cantonal median.
The model only estimates undeveloped land, not your own plot and not the building on it. For a house in Greifensee, the building comes on top, with its age, condition and fit-out. Among the canton's 160 municipalities, Greifensee ranks 41st by model value. Land and building can be derived separately and backed up with documents. A price heard in the village is no substitute.
What reduces the property gains tax on a sale in Greifensee?
The tariff is the same throughout the canton; Greifensee only levies the tax.1 It rises in steps. The first CHF 4,000 are taxed at 10 per cent, parts above CHF 100,000 at 40 per cent. Ownership then brings a reduction, 20 per cent in the example after 10 full years.
From 20 full years the reduction is highest, 50 per cent. In the example, CHF 28,800 would then be due instead of CHF 46,080.1 For a purchase over 20 years ago, the market value of 20 years ago may also count. Documented value-enhancing investments reduce the gain further; plain maintenance does not.
Buy a new home to live in, and the tax can be deferred. You must have lived in the old home yourself and replace it in Switzerland.1 If the new home costs less than the proceeds, the difference is taxable at once. If it costs no more than the old purchase price and investments, nothing is deferred.10 And deferred does not mean waived.
| Indicator | Greifensee | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Houses sold on the open market | 3 (no median; 2015: 2, 2007: 7) | 2025 |
| Flats sold on the open market | 14 (no median; 2015: 8, 2007: 13) | 2025 |
| Median flat price, Uster district (534 sales) | CHF 1,075,500 (2015: CHF 905,000) | 2025, provisional |
| Residential building land per m² (cantonal model) | CHF 2,111 (2015: CHF 1,211) | 2025, provisional |
| Residents, of whom 65 and over | 5,397, of whom 1,183 (21.9%) | 2025 |
| Tax rate municipal / total, excl. church | 101% / 196% | 2026 |
| Route to Zürich HB | from 28 minutes (walk, then S 9) | October 2026 timetable |
| Municipal value capture levy | 40% of the gain in value minus CHF 100,000 | in force |
What matters in Greifensee besides the price?
Greifensee has no station of its own. The station «Nänikon-Greifensee» carries the village name but stands on the territory of the town of Uster.5 From the stop Tumigerstrasse the fastest route is on foot to that station, then direct on the S 9 to Zürich HB, from 28 minutes. In Greifensee, 21.9 per cent of the population are 65 or older, 1,183 of 5,397 people; 8.3 per cent are 80 or older.4
Greifensee taxes income and wealth at 101 per cent, 196 per cent together with the canton.3 On the same income and wealth, Uster means about 6 per cent more cantonal and municipal tax, Maur about 10 per cent less.
The purchase contract for Greifensee is notarised by the notary, land registry and bankruptcy office of Uster, Zürichstrasse 1, 8610 Uster.11 More in the guide Notary and land registry.
Is there a value capture levy in Greifensee?
On planning gains from upzoning or rezoning, Greifensee charges a municipal value capture levy of 40 per cent of the gain in value minus CHF 100,000 (article 50 of its building and zoning regulations).6 Plots under 2,000 square metres are exempt unless the gain exceeds CHF 250,000.68 This levy falls due only when the plot is built on, not on a sale; until then the obligation passes to the buyer.9 According to the cantonal overview the rule has been in force since 17 June 2023. On 26 November 2025 the municipal assembly adopted a total revision of the regulations that carries the article over with the same values. No date of entry into force is entered in that document; the building office will confirm the current status.
The cantonal levy remains alongside it. If land is newly zoned for building, the canton charges its own levy of 20 per cent of the increase in value, small gains exempt.8 The same applies when a zone for public buildings is rezoned. With new zoning, the levy falls due with the building permit or as early as a sale. Any outstanding levy therefore belongs in the purchase contract. Background is in the guide value capture levy.
With no local median and no station on its own ground, the derivation matters all the more. I derive land, the Uster district figure and building separately and calculate your proceeds after tax.
Prefer to talk? +41 76 325 11 95 – you speak directly with Dominik Devaja.
Estate agent in Greifensee
Selling in Greifensee with Immosmile: four phases, one contact person
I support sales throughout the Canton of Zurich, including Greifensee. 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).
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Clarity
Independent valuation, net calculation after taxes and costs, a look at what comes after. You decide on figures, not on hearsay.
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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.
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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.
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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 Greifensee worth?
What else do owners in Greifensee ask?
How do I find the right estate agent in Greifensee?
Ask which comparable properties anyone uses when Greifensee itself has no median. I handle sales across the whole Canton of Zurich. Make sure district value, land and your building are each documented and the tax is calculated with your purchase date. A list for the first meeting: the 12 checking questions.
Which purchase price counts if I inherited the house in Greifensee?
An inheritance itself does not trigger property gains tax. On a later sale, you generally take over the purchase price and purchase date of the deceased person as your starting value. More on the inheritance page.
Will selling in Greifensee cost me a value capture levy?
Not the municipal levy because of the sale itself: it only concerns upzoned or rezoned plots and falls due only when the plot is built on. If it is outstanding, it belongs in the contract with the buyer. If land was newly zoned for building, the canton charges its own levy of 20 per cent of the increase in value, small gains exempt. It falls due with the building permit or as early as the sale.
Nearby
Selling property in neighbouring municipalities
Sources
- Tax Act of the Canton of Zurich (StG ZH, LS 631.1), §§ 205, 216(3)(i), 219, 220(2), 221, 225, 226 (Nachtrag 132), in German · as of 1.4.2026, retrieved 23.10.2026
- 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 23.10.2026
- Canton of Zurich, Statistical Office: municipal tax rates 2026, in German · as of 24.03.2026, final
- Canton of Zurich, Statistical Office: population by municipality and age (KTZH_00000254) · year 2025, retrieved 23.10.2026
- SBB online timetable: Greifensee, Tumigerstrasse – Zürich HB (walk, then S 9), fastest connection departing 09:00–09:59 · 2026 timetable, queried 23.10.2026 for 27 and 29.10.2026
- Municipality of Greifensee: building and zoning regulations, art. 50 «Mehrwertabgabe», in German · retrieved 23.10.2026
- Canton of Zurich, Office for Statistics and Data: property prices in the Canton of Zurich (KTZH_00003158), residential building land, model value per municipality, in German · data as of 2025/Q4, 2022–2025 values provisional, retrieved 23.10.2026
- Value Capture Act of the Canton of Zurich (MAG, LS 700.9), §§ 2, 4, 10, 19, in German · retrieved 23.10.2026
- Value Capture Ordinance of the Canton of Zurich (MAV, LS 700.91), § 21, in German · retrieved 23.10.2026
- Cantonal Tax Office Zurich: Zurich tax manual no. 216.3, replacement purchase, paras 19–25, in German · as of 1.2.2018, retrieved 23.10.2026
- Notary offices of the Canton of Zurich: notary, land registry and bankruptcy office of Uster (responsible for Greifensee), in German · retrieved 23.10.2026
- Government Council, Canton of Zurich: RRB No. 42/2026, cantonal tax rate 2026 (95%), in German · dated 14.01.2026
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
