Possible End to Housing Shortage in CA?

There is a new voter measure that could put an end to the housing shortage in California if placed on the November voting ballot and passed. The proposition would allow homeowners 55 and older to reap tax benefits upon selling their homes by eliminating the “disincentive” to sell, and making it possible to move to other California counties while taking the tax benefits with them.

Here is how the proposal would work: older homeowners who want to sell their larger homes and downsize would be able to do so, while being allowed to move from any county in CA to another without a big tax hit, so long as the new property value is the same or less than the home they are selling.

This may sound familiar to you – it draws on the premise of Proposition 13, and this new measure would allow the sellers to retain their benefits under that law. Currently many would be downsizers have elected to stay in their larger homes in order to prevent higher tax liability by losing their Prop 13 status upon selling.

Prop 13 allows property taxes to be capped at 1% of the purchase value of the property, and they are normally limited to 2% annual increases so long as the homeowners stay in the home. Sale of the home results in a reassessment of the property value for the new purchasers – thus the reason many would-be sellers have decided to stay put.

Currently, homeowners who want to downsize and move to different counties, say to be closer to family or save money on living expenses, may opt NOT to sell for the reasons above. This creates a problem for current homebuyers, as inventory remains very low. This drives up prices and encourages multiple offer situations – not good news for buyers as they may get priced out of markets, especially with interest rates and prices increasing simultaneously.

Both the California Association of Realtors and California Chamber of Commerce support this measure, as it is seen as one way to ease the housing problem in the state by increasing availability of “modest-priced homes and move up housing for young families.” Many counties in California oppose these inter-county tax transfers, as they could reduce revenues collected in property taxes upon the sale of homes.