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Suppose you read about local house prices that make you sit up. Without meaning to, you do the sums for your own property. In Richterswil that very habit can mislead you, and in both directions.
The median house here rose by 59 per cent between 2015 and 2025, to CHF 2,000,000. The median condominium, by contrast, was 5 per cent lower in 2025 than in 2015, at CHF 1,065,000. If you own a flat, you are better off not measuring yourself against the houses. And if you own a house, you should know what a median shows and what it does not.
Why are houses and flats drifting apart here?
Worked example
Worked example, Richterswil: house, 18 years of ownership
Assumption: bought in 2007 and sold in 2025, each at the Richterswil median for houses, without investments, costs or replacement purchase.
- Sale price (median 2025, provisional)
- CHF 2,000,000
- Purchase price (median 2007)
- – CHF 1,150,000
- Property gain
- CHF 850,000
- Tax per tariff, before reduction
- CHF 329,400
- Reduction for 18 full years: 44%
- – CHF 144,936
- Property gains tax
- CHF 184,464
- Remaining after tax, before mortgage
- CHF 1,815,536
Why did houses rise in Richterswil but not flats?
In 2015 the median house cost CHF 1,260,000, from 25 sales. In 2025 it was CHF 2,000,000 from 33 sales.2 Flats went the opposite way: from CHF 1,125,000 with 41 sales to CHF 1,065,000 with 39.
These figures do not show the cause. A median is the middle of whatever was sold in a given year. If more large or new houses come onto the market, it can rise, even if no single house is worth more. The same applies in reverse to flats: if smaller or older ones were sold in 2025, the median can fall.
What this means for you: neither the jump for houses nor the dip for flats is automatically your own development. In 2025 the median house is 26 per cent above the canton, the median flat 11 per cent below. For your price, what counts is your property, its condition and comparable sales.
How much does the tax in Richterswil depend on the period of ownership?
In the example, the house costs CHF 1,150,000 at the 2007 median. The gain up to 2025 is CHF 850,000, the tax CHF 184,464.1 That is 21.7 per cent of the gain. The tariff is the same throughout the canton; the municipality only levies the tax.
It becomes revealing when you calculate the same gain over different periods of ownership. After 5 full years, CHF 312,930 would be due, after 10 years CHF 263,520. After 15 years it is CHF 214,110, from 20 years CHF 164,700.1
The reason: from five full years, the tax falls by 5 per cent. After that, each full year adds 3 percentage points, up to half after 20 years.1 What this means for you: if such a threshold falls shortly after your planned sale date, waiting can pay off. Check the exact date before you sign.
| Indicator | Richterswil | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price (33 sales) | CHF 2,000,000 | 2025, provisional |
| Median condominium price (39 sales) | CHF 1,065,000 | 2025, provisional |
| Median house / flat (25 / 41 sales) | CHF 1,260,000 / CHF 1,125,000 | 2015 |
| Residential building land per m² (cantonal model) | CHF 2,028 (2015: CHF 1,073) | 2025, provisional |
| Residents, of whom 65 and over | 14,509, of whom 3,050 (21%) | 2025 |
| Tax rate municipal / total, excl. church | 99% / 194% | 2026 |
| Train from Richterswil to Zürich HB | from 29 minutes (S 8 and S 25, 1 change) | 2026 timetable |
| Municipal value capture levy | ask the building office | October 2026 |
What matters in Richterswil for buyers and for your next home?
Anyone commuting to the city looks at the timetable. From Richterswil station the fastest journey to Zürich HB takes from 29 minutes.5 For that you change once, using the S 8 and S 25. The direct connection takes a little longer.
In Richterswil, 3,050 people are 65 or older, 21 per cent of the population.4 With age, the question often arises whether the house still fits. If you downsize, you will find a gap of CHF 935,000 between the two medians. At the median, a house here costs 1.9 times as much as a flat; across the canton, 1.3 times as much.
The municipal tax rate is 99 per cent, 194 per cent including the canton.3 It applies only to income and wealth. In Wädenswil you would pay about 2 per cent more cantonal and municipal tax, in Horgen about 5 per cent less. What this means for you: plan your next home together with the sale.
What applies to the value capture levy in Richterswil?
Whether Richterswil charges a municipal levy today, and at what rate, is confirmed by the building office. The publicly available zoning regulations are an older version and contain no article on it.6 That does not rule out a newer rule.
Important for the sale: such a levy only concerns upzoned or rezoned plots. It only becomes due on development, not on sale.9 If it is in question, it passes to the buyer and belongs in the sale contract.8 More in the guide to the value capture levy.
House or flat: I place your property within the Richterswil figures and calculate from which date the tax falls.
Prefer to talk? +41 76 325 11 95 – you speak directly with Dominik Devaja.
Estate agent in Richterswil
Selling in Richterswil with Immosmile: four phases, one contact person
I support sales throughout the Canton of Zurich, including Richterswil. 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 Richterswil worth?
What else do owners in Richterswil ask?
Are the 2025 Richterswil prices final?
No. The canton describes the figures for the last three years as provisional. So even the house median of CHF 2,000,000 may still shift.
What does building land cost in Richterswil?
The cantonal model puts residential building land here at CHF 2,028 per square metre in 2025, 89 per cent more than in 2015. In 2025 the median house cost CHF 5,396 per square metre of plot, building included. The model is an estimate, not a price actually paid.
How do I find the right estate agent in Richterswil?
Ask how the price is justified and whether your property is set apart from the medians rather than simply taking them over. I work across the canton from Zurich and disclose every figure. Further checkpoints are in the 12 questions to ask.
Nearby
Selling property in neighbouring municipalities
Sources
- Tax Act of the Canton of Zurich (StG ZH, LS 631.1), §§ 205, 219, 225(1) and (3) (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: Richterswil – Zürich HB, fastest connection departing 09:00–09:59 · 2026 timetable, queried 14.10.2026 for 20 and 22.10.2026
- Richterswil zoning regulations, publicly available version (without an article on value capture), in German · retrieved 14.10.2026
- 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 CHF/m², in German · transfer statistics 2025/Q4, 2022–2025 values provisional, 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
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
