Selling property in Oberembrach: a levy with a large exempt plot size

By about half in ten years. For 2025 the cantonal model sets residential building land in Oberembrach at CHF 1,253 per square metre.⁷ In 2015 it was CHF 835, an increase of 50.1 per cent. The model gives a typical range of CHF 852 to CHF 1,846.

A model value is not a price anyone paid. A second measure shows what was actually paid for residential building land across the canton. Over 2021 to 2025, that was a median of CHF 1,742 per square metre.⁷ Because the two figures are produced differently, the gap between them is only a rough guide.

For a built-on plot, the model value is a starting point, not the result. Your plot has its own location, size and shape. The house on it is valued separately, with its age, condition and fit-out. On a large plot there is the further question of whether upzoning or rezoning triggers a levy.

It shows the frame, nothing more. In 2025, 557 flat sales on the open market in Bülach district produced a median of CHF 1,125,000.² In 2015 it stood at CHF 790,000, from 649 sales at the time. That is a rise of 42 per cent, with fewer sales than ten years before.

For houses, the district reports a 2025 median of CHF 1,490,000 from 229 sales, against CHF 1,025,000 in 2015.² Over ten years that is an increase of 45 per cent. Both district medians are about 6 per cent below the respective cantonal median.

Behind these values are sales from across the whole district, the town of Bülach included. They do not reveal which properties were sold where. They are therefore no substitute for the value of your house. The flat median serves only for the worked example here. Your house needs its own derivation from location, plot and building.

The tax is on the gain: proceeds minus purchase price and allowable expenses.¹ The tariff is the same across the canton and rises in steps. The first CHF 4,000 of gain bear 10 per cent, every franc above CHF 100,000 bears 40 per cent. After 10 full years the reduction is 20 per cent, from 20 full years half. The example would then owe CHF 61,700 rather than CHF 98,720.

Documented value-enhancing investments reduce the gain; mere maintenance does not. A value capture levy already paid also counts as an expense.¹ After more than 20 years of ownership, the market value of 20 years ago may replace the purchase price.

Deferral is possible if you lived in the old home and buy a new one in Switzerland to live in.¹ If the new home costs less than the proceeds, the difference is taxable at once. No deferral applies if its price is no higher than the old purchase price plus investments.¹¹ Deferred does not mean waived.