AB 736 was just amended to increase the combined cap to 1.5% to 3%, depending on a city’s current transfer tax rate.
Photo credits: Red Alert – AB 736 – OPPOSE Dramatic Increase to Transfer Taxes (San Mateo County Association of REALTORS®)
AB 736 (Gonzalez) is "a bill that writes a transfer tax ceiling into state law for the first time at up to 3% of a property’s sale price, nearly 27 times higher than the .11% limit that currently applies to general law cities. A cap sets these high functions as a target, not a ceiling, giving cities across the state a new, state-blessed number to climb toward. On a median-priced home of $930,260, the new ceiling would let a city charge a transfer tax of up to $27,907, compared with no more than $1,023.29 under the current general law limit" (Cilic 2026).
"The current maximum that a general law city can impose for a documentary transfer tax is .11% or a $1.10 per $1,000 of the sales price of the property. Under the current cap, a city could charge no more than $1,023.29 on the sale of the same property" (Cilic 2026).
The Senate and Assembly vote on this bill Thursday, June 25th. Many realty groups, such as the Realtor Party of California, oppose this bill.
Assembly Bill: Bill Text - AB-736 Transfer taxes: limitation.
The Cilic Group: HOME - Cilic Group Home Page
