Selling property in Niederglatt: a median that comes and goes

A median needs at least 15 open-market sales a year; otherwise the canton publishes no middle price. In Niederglatt, houses and flats did not reach that threshold together in any of the three reference years 2007, 2015 and 2025. In 2007 there was a flat median, from 17 sales; in 2015 and 2025 the count fell short, at 12 and 7.

For houses it ran the other way. In 2015 there was a median, CHF 930,000 from 22 sales.² By 2025 only 8 houses sold, and the threshold was missed again. So none of the three reference years carries an official figure for both property types at once.

What this means for you: a municipality of this size can slip below the threshold from one year to the next. A few fewer sales in a year are enough to do it. Your own value does not hang on a single year's median. It rests on location, plot and building, derived separately and backed by comparable properties from the district.

The cantonal model puts residential building land in Niederglatt at CHF 1,928 per square metre for 2025.⁷ In 2015 it was still CHF 1,002, a rise of 92.4 per cent in ten years. Typically the model ranges from CHF 1,356 to CHF 2,735 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; in 2011 to 2015 it was CHF 800.⁷ Model value and price paid are produced by different methods, so the two rises cannot be compared directly.

The model only estimates undeveloped land, not your own plot and not the building on it. For a house in Niederglatt, the building comes on top, with its age, condition and fit-out. Both can be derived separately and backed up with documents; a price heard in the village is no substitute for that derivation.

The tariff is the same throughout the canton; Niederglatt only levies the tax.¹ It rises in steps: 10 per cent on the first CHF 4,000, 40 per cent on parts above CHF 100,000. 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 40,700 would then be due instead of CHF 65,120.¹ 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.