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Suppose a folder holds a purchase contract from 2007, for a house in Volketswil. Prices here were high at the time: the median was CHF 960,000, in the canton CHF 780,000.
Today the picture has turned. At CHF 1,500,000, the Volketswil house median is below the cantonal one. That sounds like a drawback. When you sell, it has a good side: in the median example the gain is smaller, and the tax is based on the gain.
Why is the tax so low here, and does that apply to you too?
Worked example
Worked example, Volketswil: house, 18 years of ownership
Assumption: bought in 2007 and sold in 2025, each at the Volketswil median for single-family houses, without investments or costs. A different purchase price or year gives a different tax.
- Sale price (median 2025, provisional)
- CHF 1,500,000
- Purchase price (median 2007)
- – CHF 960,000
- Property gain
- CHF 540,000
- Tax per tariff, before reduction
- CHF 205,400
- Reduction for 18 full years: 44%
- – CHF 90,376
- Property gains tax
- CHF 115,024
- Remaining after tax, before mortgage
- CHF 1,384,976
Why is the tax so low in the Volketswil example?
Because of the starting point. In 2007 the house median in Volketswil was CHF 960,000, in the canton CHF 780,000.2 In 2025, Volketswil stands at CHF 1,500,000 and the canton at CHF 1,590,000. Buying here at the 2007 median meant paying more than the canton median, so the gain is smaller today. Neither luck nor merit, just arithmetic.
Only that gain is taxed, not the price. The tariff is the same throughout the canton and rises with the gain.1 In the example, a gain of CHF 540,000 bears CHF 115,024 in tax. That is 7.7 per cent of the sale price and 21.3 per cent of the gain.
What this means for you: your own purchase price is the most important figure in your tax bill. Anyone who bought later, say in 2015 at the then median of CHF 986,500, has a different gain and a shorter period of ownership. Both change the tax, and in opposite directions.
How has the Volketswil market developed since 2015?
Strongly. The house median rose by 52 per cent since 2015, from CHF 986,500 to CHF 1,500,000.2 The flat median rose by 38 per cent, to CHF 1,020,000. Both are below the canton: houses by 6 per cent, flats by 15 per cent. At the median, a house here costs about one and a half times as much as a flat, with CHF 480,000 between them.
More is traded, too. In 2025, 35 houses and 76 flats changed hands on the open market, compared with 28 and 52 in 2015.2 Land has risen as well. The canton estimates residential building land in Volketswil at CHF 2,131 per square metre in 2025, 85 per cent more than in 2015.10
What this means for you: buyers in Volketswil find enough comparisons to check a price. Where your house stands among them, the median alone does not show. That is why it pays to derive the asking price carefully before the first advertisement.
| Indicator | Volketswil | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price (35 sales) | CHF 1,500,000 | 2025, provisional |
| Median condominium price (76 sales) | CHF 1,020,000 | 2025, provisional |
| Median house / flat (28 / 52 sales) | CHF 986,500 / CHF 740,000 | 2015 |
| Residential building land per m² (cantonal model) | CHF 2,131 (2015: CHF 1,154) | 2025, provisional |
| Residents, of whom 65 and over | 19,906, of whom 3,507 (17.6%) | 2025 |
| Tax rate municipal / total, excl. church | 101% / 196% | 2026 |
| Public transport from Volketswil, Zentrum to Zürich HB | from 24 minutes (bus 725, 1 change) | 2026 timetable |
| Municipal value capture levy | 25% of the gain in value minus CHF 100,000 | in force since 29.05.2021 |
What does it mean for a sale that Volketswil has no railway station?
Volketswil has no station of its own. The fastest connection to Zürich HB starts at the Volketswil, Zentrum stop, with bus 725 and one change.5 It takes from 24 minutes.
For buyers who commute into the city every day, that is part of the weighing up. How much it counts depends on the buyer. An advertisement should therefore state the connection honestly and show what else your house offers.
After the sale, the tax rate of your next home matters. In Volketswil it is 101 per cent, 196 per cent including the canton.3 It only affects income and wealth. In Dübendorf you pay about 5 per cent less cantonal and municipal tax on the same income, in Winterthur about 12 per cent more. In Volketswil, 17.6 per cent of the population are 65 or older.4 What this means for you: plan the sale and your next home together.
What applies to the value capture levy in Volketswil?
Since May 2021, Volketswil has charged its own levy:7 25 per cent of the gain in value minus CHF 100,000.6 Plots under 2,000 square metres are generally exempt.6 The levy only applies to the rise in value from upzoning or rezoning.
It only falls due on development, not on sale.9 If you sell first, the buyer takes over the obligation, and it belongs in the sale contract.8 For an upzoned or rezoned plot, that is a point in the price negotiation. More in the guide to the value capture levy.
Your purchase price, your purchase year, your receipts: with these I calculate your tax precisely and show what you keep in Volketswil.
Prefer to talk? +41 76 325 11 95 – you speak directly with Dominik Devaja.
Estate agent in Volketswil
Selling in Volketswil with Immosmile: four phases, one contact person
I support sales throughout the Canton of Zurich, including Volketswil. 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 Volketswil worth?
What else do owners in Volketswil ask?
How do I find the right estate agent in Volketswil?
I work across the canton from Zurich, Volketswil included. What matters is that someone justifies the price with figures, builds your old purchase price into the tax and gives you the result in writing. For comparison: 12 questions to ask.
Which purchase price counts if we inherited the house?
Inheriting itself does not trigger property gains tax. If you sell later, the acquisition by the deceased usually counts, together with their period of ownership. More on the inheritance page.
Are the 2025 prices for Volketswil final?
No. The canton lists the last three years as provisional. The house median of CHF 1,500,000 may therefore still shift.
Nearby
Selling property in neighbouring municipalities
Sources
- Tax Act of the Canton of Zurich (StG ZH, LS 631.1), §§ 205, 216, 219, 221, 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: Volketswil, Zentrum – Zürich HB, fastest connection departing 09:00–09:59 · 2026 timetable, queried 14.10.2026 for 20 and 22.10.2026
- Building and zoning regulations of Volketswil, art. 39b «Mehrwertausgleich» (approved 3.3.2021), in German · retrieved 14.10.2026
- Building Department, Canton of Zurich: status of value capture levies in the municipalities (map), Volketswil in force 29.05.2021, in German · retrieved 14.10.2026
- Value Capture Act of the Canton of Zurich (MAG, LS 700.9), §§ 6, 7, 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
- Canton of Zurich, Office for Statistics and Data: property prices in the Canton of Zurich, residential building land in CHF/m² (KTZH_00003158), in German · transfer statistics 2025/Q4, published 4.5.2026, 2022–2025 values provisional, retrieved 14.10.2026
- 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
