What happens if the new home costs more?
Under Prop 19, your current taxable value carries over, and only the part of the new home’s price above a limit is added. The limit is 100% of your old home’s sale price if you buy before selling, 105% within a year after, or 110% in the second year. A price within the limit adds nothing.
Facts reviewed September 26, 2026Re-checked quarterly and when the rules change.
How the added amount is worked out
Start with the price your old home sells for. If you buy the new home before that sale, the limit is 100% of that price. If you buy within the first year after, it’s 105%, and in the second year it’s 110%.
Anything the new home costs above the limit is added to your current taxable value. The total becomes the new home’s taxable value. The example below works through one purchase.
The limit comes from your sale price
The limit is based on what your old home sells for, not on its taxable value. So a new home can cost more than your current taxable value and still add nothing, as long as its price is within the limit.
If it’s worth less than your taxable value
If the new home’s market value is less than your current taxable value, claiming Prop 19 isn’t beneficial. Check with the county assessor before you file if that could apply to you.
After the move
From then on, the new taxable value can rise by at most 2% a year, the same cap that applies to any taxable value. In some years the increase has been lower.
Your tax depends on that value and the tax rate where the new home is, which that county publishes. Prop 19 doesn’t change special assessments or Mello-Roos taxes.
Worked example
Taxable value $300,000, sold for $600,000, and a new home bought for $700,000 before the sale.
- Most the new home can cost with nothing added
- $600,000
- Amount over that limit
- $100,000
- New taxable value with Prop 19
- $400,000
- New taxable value without it
- $700,000
California State Board of Equalization, Publication 801, example 2
Sources
- California State Board of Equalization: Proposition 19 Fact Sheet (Publication 801)
- California State Board of Equalization: Base Year Value Transfers for Persons 55 and Older (Publication 800-3)
- California State Board of Equalization: 2026-27 California Consumer Price Index (Letter To Assessors 2026/002)
- Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller: FY 2026-27 property tax rates
- San Luis Obispo County Auditor-Controller: FY 2025-26 property tax rates
