Selling property in Steinmaur: a median from exactly 15 sales

The canton publishes a median only once a year has 15 open-market sales. For flats, Steinmaur had 10 sales in 2015 and 8 in 2007, both below that. In 2025 there are exactly 15, the narrowest possible basis for its own figure of CHF 930,000.

For houses, the number falls short. 10 changed hands in 2025, also 10 in 2015 and only 4 in 2007. In none of the three reference years did Steinmaur cross the threshold.

What this means for you: a figure that only just reaches the minimum can move again with every further year, up or down. A single large or small sale more next year can shift the middle noticeably. For a house, the only route remains a separate derivation of district, land and building, backed by comparable properties nearby.

A benchmark that does not depend on the number of sales: the land value. For undeveloped residential building land in Steinmaur, the cantonal model sets CHF 1,274 per square metre for 2025, against CHF 827 in 2015.⁷ That is a rise of 54.1 per cent in ten years, typically between CHF 892 and CHF 1,813.

The canton also knows a second measure: the price actually paid. Between 2021 and 2025 it stood at a median of CHF 1,742, ten years earlier at CHF 800.⁷ Model and paid price rest on different methods; on its model value, Steinmaur sits below the cantonal figure for 2021 to 2025.

The model says nothing about your own plot; it only estimates undeveloped land on average. The building itself, with its age, condition and fit-out, comes on top for a house in Steinmaur. Both parts can be derived and documented separately, regardless of the median.

The same tariff applies across the canton; Steinmaur is only responsible for levying it.¹ With the gain it rises in steps: 10 per cent on the first CHF 4,000, 40 per cent on the part above CHF 100,000. A longer holding period works against that: 20 per cent off in the example after 10 full years.

The reduction reaches its peak from 20 full years, at 50 per cent. Instead of CHF 65,120, the example would then owe CHF 40,700.¹ Past 20 years, the market value of 20 years ago may replace the purchase price. Documented value-enhancing investments reduce the gain further; maintenance does not.

Putting the proceeds into a new owner-occupied home in Switzerland lets you defer the tax.¹ You must have lived in the old property yourself. A cheaper new home still makes the difference taxable at once. Staying at or below the old purchase price plus investments removes the deferral.¹⁰ Deferred is not the same as waived.