On this page
Perhaps you thought about it for a long time back then: house or flat? The gap was smaller than today. In 2007 a median house in Pfäffikon cost CHF 710,000, a flat CHF 563,000.
Today the gap is more than three times as large. In 2025 the house was at CHF 1,612,500, the flat at CHF 1,074,000. If you chose the house, moving to a flat can free up a lot of capital in the median comparison. But this move has a tax side you should know beforehand.
What does the widening gap between house and flat mean for your next step?
Worked example
Worked example, Pfäffikon: house, 18 years of ownership
Assumption: bought in 2007 and sold in 2025, each at the Pfäffikon median for houses, without investments, costs or deferral.
- Sale price (median 2025, provisional)
- CHF 1,612,500
- Purchase price (median 2007)
- – CHF 710,000
- Property gain
- CHF 902,500
- Tax per tariff, before reduction
- CHF 350,400
- Reduction for 18 full years: 44%
- – CHF 154,176
- Property gains tax
- CHF 196,224
- Remaining after tax, before mortgage
- CHF 1,416,276
How far apart are houses and flats in Pfäffikon?
Further than before. In 2007 a median house cost a good quarter more than a flat.2 In 2025 it was 1.5 times as much. Across the canton it is 1.3 times. Today the two medians are CHF 538,500 apart.
Since 2015 the house median has risen by 54 per cent, from CHF 1,050,000. Over the same period the flat median rose by 42 per cent, from CHF 755,000. Since 2007 house prices have more than doubled, flat prices almost. A house is now only 1 per cent above the cantonal median of CHF 1,590,000.
What this means for you: at the median, moving from house to flat in Pfäffikon frees up more capital than a few years ago. But the house median rests on only 20 sales. A single house can be well above or below it. The value of your house has to be derived individually.
Which part of the tax falls due at once when you move to a flat?
That depends on the price of the new flat. Did you live in the house permanently and exclusively yourself? If you then buy or build a home for the same use in Switzerland within a reasonable period, the tax is deferred.1 This applies only to the extent the proceeds are used for it.
The rule is simple.12 Say the flat costs less than the proceeds, but more than your house did back then, including investments. Then the difference to the proceeds is taxable at once. In the median case that is CHF 538,500, the gap between the medians. The rest is deferred until you sell the flat without a new replacement.
If the flat costs even less than your house did back then, including investments, there is no deferral.12 The claim must be made before the assessment becomes final. What this means for you: plan the sale and the purchase together. The price of the flat helps decide how much tax falls due at once.
| Indicator | Pfäffikon | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price (20 sales) | CHF 1,612,500 | 2025, provisional |
| Median condominium price (43 sales) | CHF 1,074,000 | 2025, provisional |
| Median house / flat (18 / 47 sales) | CHF 1,050,000 / CHF 755,000 | 2015 |
| Residential building land per m² (cantonal model) | CHF 2,270 (2015: CHF 1,139) | 2025, provisional |
| Residents, of whom 65 and over | 12,836, of whom 2,856 (22.2%) | 2025 |
| Tax rate municipal / total, excl. church | 110% / 205% | 2026 |
| Train from Pfäffikon ZH to Zürich HB | from 30 minutes (S 3, direct) | 2026 timetable |
| Municipal value capture levy | 40% of the gain in value minus CHF 100,000 | in force since 13.12.2022 |
What matters in Pfäffikon besides the price?
The train. From Pfäffikon ZH the S 3 runs to Zürich HB without changing, from 30 minutes.5 Anyone working in the city can therefore commute directly.
The tax rate. It is 110 per cent, 205 per cent including the canton.3 It plays no part in property gains tax, only in income and wealth tax. If you move away after the sale, the new place counts. On the same income, Wetzikon means about 4 per cent more cantonal and municipal tax, Winterthur about 7 per cent more.
The land. The cantonal model puts residential building land in Pfäffikon at CHF 2,270 per square metre for 2025, almost twice as much as in 2015.11 In Pfäffikon, 22.2 per cent of the population are 65 or older, 2,856 people.4 What this means for you: with an older house and a large garden, the land can make up a large part of the value.
What applies to the value capture levy in Pfäffikon?
Since December 2022, Pfäffikon has charged its own levy: 40 per cent of the gain in value minus CHF 100,000.6 Cantonal law does not allow a Zurich municipality to go higher.8 Plots under 1,500 square metres are generally exempt.6 Only the added value from upzoning or rezoning is covered.
It is paid only when someone builds on the plot, not on sale.9 If you sell beforehand, the buyer takes over the obligation, and it belongs in the sale contract.8 With a large, upzoned plot, this weighs on the price buyers offer. More in the guide to the value capture levy.
In Pfäffikon, selling the house and buying the flat belong in one calculation. I work through both with your figures, calmly and without sales pressure.
Prefer to talk? +41 76 325 11 95 – you speak directly with Dominik Devaja.
Estate agent in Pfäffikon
Selling in Pfäffikon with Immosmile: four phases, one contact person
I support sales throughout the Canton of Zurich, including Pfäffikon. 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 Pfäffikon worth?
What else do owners in Pfäffikon ask?
How do I find the right estate agent in Pfäffikon?
Ask whether the agent also calculates your next step. I handle sales across the whole Canton of Zurich. Good agents derive the price, calculate tax and net proceeds and show what buying a flat changes. For comparing, there are 12 checking questions.
How long do I have to buy the new flat?
The law speaks of a reasonable period. The cantonal tax office generally takes this to be two years. Buying before the sale is also possible if the two are connected.
Are the 2025 Pfäffikon prices final?
No. The canton describes the figures for the last three years as provisional. The CHF 1,612,500 for a house is therefore a preliminary figure.
Sources
- Tax Act of the Canton of Zurich (StG ZH, LS 631.1), §§ 205, 216(3)(i), 219, 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
- Canton of Zurich, Statistical Office: population by municipality and age (KTZH_00000254) · year 2025, retrieved 14.10.2026
- SBB online timetable: Pfäffikon ZH – Zürich HB, fastest connection departing 09:00–09:59 · 2026 timetable, queried 14.10.2026 for 20 and 22.10.2026
- Municipality of Pfäffikon: building and zoning regulations, provision on the value capture levy, in German · in force since 13.12.2022, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Building Department, Canton of Zurich: status of value capture levies in the municipalities (map), in German · as of 10.10.2026, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Value Capture Act of the Canton of Zurich (MAG, LS 700.9), §§ 6, 19, 20, in German · retrieved 09.10.2026
- Value Capture Ordinance of the Canton of Zurich (MAV, LS 700.91), § 21, in German · retrieved 09.10.2026
- Government Council, Canton of Zurich: RRB No. 42/2026, cantonal tax rate 2026 (95%), in German · dated 14.01.2026
- Canton of Zurich, Office for Statistics and Data: Immobilienpreise im Kanton Zürich (KTZH_00003158), residential building land, model by municipality and median of sales in the canton, in German · data as of 2025/Q4, 2022–2025 values provisional, retrieved 14.10.2026
- Cantonal Tax Office of Zurich: Zurich tax manual no. 216.3, replacement purchase of owner-occupied property, margin nos. 13, 17–22, 24, 28, in German · as of 1.2.2018, retrieved 29.09.2026
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
