Is a house in the countryside really cheaper?

On the purchase price almost always; on total costs not automatically. Commuting costs, a possible second car and the travel time eat up part of the savings. Weigh the price advantage against ten years of commuting and the comparison becomes honest.

What does commuting really cost?

For the car, the TCS reckons with full costs of a good 70 centimes per kilometre, including depreciation and maintenance. A 30-kilometre commute quickly adds up to CHF 8'000 to 10'000 per year and person. A second-class GA travelcard costs around CHF 4'000, but on the train you can work or read.

Where is resale easier?

In centres and well-connected agglomerations: more demand, shorter marketing times, more stable prices. Remote locations fluctuate more and take more patience to sell. If you only plan to stay a few years, weight this more heavily than the purchase price.

How much does the municipal tax multiplier matter?

Depending on your income, several thousand francs a year: between cheap and expensive municipalities in the same canton there are easily 30 tax multiplier points or more. The effect is permanent, which is why it belongs in the monthly calculation, not in a footnote.

Huusfink Guide31 August 2026

A home in the city or in the countryside: the honest comparison

The same budget buys three rooms in the city or a house with a garden in the countryside. Even so, the choice is not purely about price: commuting, taxes and resale shift the calculation, sometimes considerably.

Why the price gap is so wide

Housing is expensive where many people want to live and little can be built: around Zurich, Lake Geneva, Zug, Basel and the big agglomerations. With every quarter hour of travel time towards the countryside, prices per square metre drop noticeably; between a lakeside municipality and a village in the hinterland of the same canton there can easily be a factor of two. That gap is your opportunity and your trap at the same time.

The items that make the countryside expensive again

→Commuting costs: a good 70 centimes per car kilometre at full cost. Two commuters, each driving 30 kilometres to work, burn through around CHF 15'000 to 20'000 a year; a GA travelcard costs about CHF 4'000 per person.
→Second car: in the countryside often not a choice but a requirement. That is another several thousand francs a year.
→Time: twice 40 minutes a day is over 300 hours a year. What those are worth to you is your call, but make the call consciously.
→Connections for children and in old age: without dense public transport, every member of the family ends up needing a chauffeur.

The items in favour of the countryside

More space, a garden, quiet, and often a lower tax multiplier than in the core city. Since working from home replaced two or three commuting days a week, the calculation has shifted towards the countryside for many: halve your commuting days and you halve the biggest counter-item. But assess soberly how solid your home office share really is; a change of job can change it faster than your address.

Resale: the underestimated difference

Central, well-connected locations sell in almost any market environment; remote ones need the right buyer at the right time. If you are certain to stay twenty years, you can take that calmly. If your career keeps you mobile, you pay twice for the seclusion: once in commuting, and once when things have to move fast. More on what carries a location in the long run in the article How to spot a good location.

How to compare fairly

Put two total calculations side by side instead of two purchase prices: monthly costs from interest, amortisation and maintenance, plus commuting and car costs, plus the tax difference between the municipalities. The frequent result: the countryside stays cheaper, but the gap shrinks from “a third cheaper” to “somewhat cheaper, with more space and more travel”. On exactly that basis you can then decide honestly which life you want to buy.

Frequently asked questions

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