Los Angeles · Buying & selling

Buying or selling a home in Los Angeles

Los Angeles charges its own transfer tax on every property sale and an added housing tax on high-value sales. Seller disclosures and property tax limits come from state law.

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Key points

Transfer tax: City rule: the base tax is $2.25 per $500 of value ($4.50 per $1,000), when the value, not counting remaining liens, exceeds $100.
Housing tax: City rule: an added tax is 4% over $5,000,000 and under $10,000,000, and 5.5% at $10,000,000 or more; thresholds adjust yearly.
Who pays: City rule: anyone who makes, signs or issues the taxed document, or the person it is made for, is liable for the tax.
Disclosure statement: State law: single-family sellers must give a Transfer Disclosure Statement; a buyer getting it after the offer may cancel within 3 or 5 days.
Property tax: State law: the general property tax is at most 1% of full cash value plus voter-approved debt; base value rises at most 2% yearly.
Homeowner exemption: State law: $7,000 of assessed value is exempt when the home is the owner's principal residence.

Each rule below is marked Los Angeles code or CA state law and links to the section it comes from (checked October 2026). General information, not legal advice.

Practical research questions and checklists

Transfer tax

Los Angeles code City rule: the base tax is $2.25 per $500 of value ($4.50 per $1,000), when the value, not counting remaining liens, exceeds $100. City rule: an added tax is 4% over $5,000,000 and under $10,000,000, and 5.5% at $10,000,000 or more; thresholds adjust yearly. City rule: anyone who makes, signs or issues the taxed document, or the person it is made for, is liable for the tax.

All 6 Los Angeles rules on transfer tax, with the code text and the state law underneath →

Seller disclosures

CA state law California law sets this statewide. Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) — who must give it: Sellers of single-family residential property must give the buyer a Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (sale, exchange, installment contract, lease-option or ground lease with improvements) (Civ. Code §§ 1102(a), 1102.2). Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement (NHD): Sellers must disclose if the property is in a special flood hazard area, dam inundation area, very high fire hazard severity zone, earthquake fault zone, seismic hazard zone, or wildland fire area (Civ. Code § 1103(c)). California seller disclosure rules — the full state rule →

Property tax after you buy

CA state law California law sets this statewide. 1% property tax limit (Prop 13): The general property tax on real property may not exceed 1% of its full cash value; voter-approved bond debt is levied on top (Cal. Const. art. XIII A, § 1(a), (b)). 2% annual cap on assessed value: The base year value rises each year by the California CPI change, but never more than 2% (Rev. & Tax. Code § 51(a)(1)(D)). California property tax rules — the full state rule →

Who this affects

BuyersSellersReal estate agents

General information, not legal advice.

AI-assisted research · Source checks recorded

Los Angeles: Before buying or selling

Before relying on a listing, estimating costs, or bidding. Start with a question, collect the records, and follow the cited law.

City of Los Angeles; county and unincorporated areas require separate research. Source checks do not establish a property-specific outcome. Open questions appear in each verification record.

LA-T01 · Research pending