High-end flats on Lake Zurich: what runs differently with these properties

What the market allows — and what it does not

The documented figures for Zurich: AirROI gives a bottom quartile for the nightly rate at around CHF 124, a median at CHF 176 and the top decile above CHF 360 (converted at a rate of 0.89). Properties in the top decile therefore achieve a good twice the median.

What this range does not say: that a high-end property automatically lands there. The top decile does not consist of expensive flats but of well-run ones — pictures, fittings, review history and pricing decide, not the price per square metre at purchase.

And occupancy works in the opposite direction: anyone determined to achieve a high price forgoes the bookings that will not pay it. A property at CHF 400 a night with 45 per cent occupancy matches one at CHF 250 with 72 per cent on revenue — with fewer than half the changeovers and therefore considerably lower cleaning costs.

The rules are stricter by the lake

This is the point that most often ends such plans — not the demand.

On 16 June 2026 Kilchberg adopted a revised building and zoning code prohibiting hotel-like operations in purely residential zones. Approval by the canton is pending. For the other lakeside municipalities: each has its own code, and no inference can be drawn to them from the city of Zurich’s rule.

Then there are the condominium association’s rules. With high-end properties that have communal facilities — roof terrace, gym, sauna, swimming pool — the position is particularly sensitive: in judgment 5A_436/2018 of 4 April 2019 the Federal Supreme Court upheld a prohibition on short-term letting, and the case decided turned on exactly this intensive shared use by guests.

What follows: with a property by the lake, reading the association’s rules and the minutes of recent meetings belongs before any income projection. The building administration’s information is free of charge; a property that may not be let short-term produces no income.

What guests expect in this segment

More, and measurably more. Anyone paying CHF 400 a night is not comparing with other holiday flats but with a hotel in that price class.

Concretely that means: textiles of a quality you notice on touching them, and in triplicate rather than in duplicate. A kitchen that is complete, not merely present. Cleaning with a condition check after every changeover — at these prices a stain on the sofa is a review below five stars. And availability that genuinely runs around the clock.

Equally important and less obvious: discretion. A listing with a recognisable address, a view of the neighbouring property and interior shots that make the building identifiable is a problem with a high-end property — for you and for the neighbours.

The calculation with a high-end property

It comes out differently, and not uniformly better.

In favour of short-term letting are the higher nightly rate and the longer stays — guests in this segment tend to stay a week rather than two nights, which lowers the cleaning cost per night.

Two things argue against it. Existing rents in Zurich run around 30 per cent below rents on new lettings, but with high-end properties by the lake the achievable long-term rent is high in absolute terms — a four-room flat in Kilchberg with a lake view achieves long-term rents that short-term letting can only match at high occupancy. And the initial investment is larger: what counts as fitting-out in this segment costs a multiple.

Our calculator shows both sides with your figures. We say so when the long-term tenancy comes out better — with high-end properties by the lake that happens more often than in the city.