Selling property in Rüti: two markets in one place

The figures show it clearly. The house median has risen by 54 per cent since 2015, from CHF 850,000 to CHF 1,313,000.² Over the same period, the flat median fell by about 9 per cent, from CHF 725,000 to CHF 660,000. It is 45 per cent below the canton, the house median 17 per cent.

The median does not give the reason. Each year it measures different flats, older and newer, small and large. In 2015 it was based on only 17 sales, in 2025 on 35. A different mix can shift it without any single flat losing value.

What this means for you: do not measure your flat against the trend in house prices, nor against the low median. Location, size, year of construction and condition decide your price. That can be derived from comparable sales. This is exactly where a conversation helps more than any average.

At the median, a house here costs almost exactly twice as much as a flat; across the canton, 1.3 times as much.² The two medians are CHF 653,000 apart. Among the 46 municipalities with both medians, only Küsnacht and Dübendorf have a larger ratio. Downsizing therefore frees up a lot of capital in the median comparison, before tax and costs.

If you lived in the house and buy another owner-occupied home in Switzerland, the tax can be deferred.¹ If the flat costs less than the proceeds, however, the difference is taxable at once.¹² At the medians, that would be CHF 653,000, almost the entire gain of CHF 688,000. If it costs no more than you once paid for the house and investments, there is no deferral at all.

What this means for you: the large gap is good for your liquidity. In return, it makes the deferral almost ineffective. Work through buying and renting the next flat with your own figures before you commit.

In the median example, not much. A flat bought in 2007 at the then median of CHF 565,000 and sold in 2025 at the median gains CHF 95,000.² After 18 years, that costs CHF 15,484 in property gains tax.¹ For the house, the same comparison comes to CHF 148,176.

The tariff is the same throughout the canton; Rüti only levies the tax.¹ It rises with the gain: parts of the gain above CHF 100,000 are taxed at 40 per cent, before the reduction. A small gain is therefore taxed more lightly in proportion than a large one. A gain of CHF 95,000 never reaches that top band.

Documented value-adding investments reduce the gain further; ordinary maintenance does not.¹ What this means for you: in the median example for a flat in Rüti, the right price matters more than the tax. If the value is properly derived, you negotiate on firm ground.