Selling property in Rüschlikon: the land carries the value

Because land here has become exceptionally expensive. The cantonal model puts residential building land in Rüschlikon at CHF 6,690 per square metre in 2025, 177 per cent more than in 2015.⁸ Across the canton, the median price paid for residential building land from 2021 to 2025 was CHF 1,742.⁹ The model is an estimate, not a price actually paid.

The canton notes in its questions and answers on land prices: especially in expensive locations, it pays to replace existing buildings with new ones.¹⁰ An older house on a large plot may therefore interest buyers mainly as building land. Then what counts is the area, the zone and how much may be built on it.

What this means for you: before selling, clarify what your building zone allows. The floor area ratio states how much floor space may be built on a plot. If you know it, you negotiate about the plot and not just about the house.

Houses in Rüschlikon are rarely sold on the open market: 7 in 2007, 11 in 2015, 14 in 2025.² The canton needs at least 15 for a median. So it fell short every time, in 2025 by a single sale.

The flat median is no substitute. In 2025, 36 flats had a median price of CHF 2,662,500.² That is more than twice the cantonal figure and 81 per cent more than in 2015. A house with its own land follows a different calculation.

Even the cantonal tax office calculates the tax value of a house in two parts: land value plus depreciated building value.¹¹ That means what the building would cost new, minus a deduction for its age. What this means for you: your price comes from the land, the building and comparable sales in the region. Each of these parts can be derived and documented separately.

In the example, the flat costs CHF 1,582,500 at the 2007 median and CHF 2,662,500 in 2025. The gain of CHF 1,080,000 attracts CHF 235,984 in tax, 21.9 per cent of the gain.¹ Notably, the 2015 median of CHF 1,467,500 was below that of 2007. What counts is therefore your own purchase price.

After the sale, the tax rate of your new home municipality matters, for income and wealth.³ Rüschlikon is at 75 per cent, 170 per cent including the canton. In Adliswil you would pay about 17 per cent more cantonal and municipal tax on the same income, in Thalwil about 2 per cent more. Kilchberg is about 2 per cent lower.

In Rüschlikon, 1,160 people are 65 or older, 18 per cent of the population.⁴ From Rüschlikon station the journey to Zürich HB takes from 15 minutes, on the S 8 without changing.⁵ What this means for you: factor in your next municipality before choosing it.