Purchase costs: what buying a home really costs by canton

The purchase price is not the price: depending on the canton, the same house comes with a few thousand or several tens of thousands of francs in purchase costs. And not one of those francs runs through the mortgage.

What the purchase costs consist of

• →Transfer tax: set at cantonal level, from 0 % (for example Zurich, Zug, Aargau) to over 3 % (Vaud, Geneva). The biggest and most underestimated item.
• →Notary and land registry: notarising the purchase contract and entering it in the land registry, as a reference value around 0.4 % of the purchase price.
• →Mortgage note: creating the pledge title for the mortgage, included in the fees above.

All 26 cantons at a glance

The table shows the usual buyer's share of the transfer tax and the total purchase costs for an example purchase price of CHF 1'000'000, for owner-occupiers. These are reference values: some municipalities add surcharges (Fribourg, Vaud, Graubünden), some cantons reduce the rate for a main residence (Basel-Stadt, Neuchâtel).

*Bern: for a permanently owner-occupied main residence, the first CHF 800'000 of the purchase price are tax-free (apply with the land registry filing, at least two years of owner-occupation). At CHF 1'000'000 that leaves only CHF 3'600 in tax instead of CHF 18'000.

Why this hits your budget directly

The bank finances at most 80 % of the purchase price. Equity and purchase costs you pay in cash. If your savings are laid out to exactly the 20 %, you arrive at the notary's appointment with no reserve. So always count equity plus purchase costs as your cash needed; the purchase costs calculator shows the total for your canton at a glance.

As of 10 August 2026. Reference values based on Swiss banking practice and cantonal tariffs, no financial or legal advice.