How much will Measure ULA cost on a Los Feliz home sale in 2026?
Measure ULA, the City of Los Angeles transfer tax often called the "Mansion Tax," adds 4% to the sale price of any LA city home that closes between $5,300,000 and $10,599,999, and 5.5% on sales of $10,600,000 and up. The thresholds reset annually with inflation. Effective July 1, 2026, the new tiers will be $5,400,000 and $10,900,000. The tax applies on top of the regular City of LA and Los Angeles County documentary transfer taxes, and it is paid by the seller at closing on the gross sale price, not on the gain.
If you own in Los Feliz Estates, Laughlin Park, the Oaks, Franklin Hills, or any of the architectural homes scattered through Los Feliz Square and the Hollywood-adjacent flats, there is a real chance your eventual sale will cross a Measure ULA threshold. And the difference between $5,399,999 and $5,400,001 is not a few hundred dollars. It is well over $200,000.
Most Los Feliz sellers I work with first hear about ULA from a neighbor, a CPA, or a Reddit thread, and the version they hear is usually a little wrong. The numbers move every July, the rules around what counts as "consideration" trip people up, and the planning moves you can actually make are narrower than people assume. So here is the real picture for 2026, with a clean breakdown of what it costs, what it does not cover, and how to think about it before you list.
What Measure ULA Actually Is, in Plain English
Measure ULA is a City of Los Angeles transfer tax that voters passed in November 2022 and that took effect April 1, 2023. It applies to any sale of real property within the City of Los Angeles boundaries above a dollar threshold. Los Feliz sits inside the City of LA, so every sale in the neighborhood is exposed.
It is layered on top of the existing transfer taxes you already pay at closing:
- Los Angeles County Documentary Transfer Tax: $1.10 per $1,000 of sale price, or 0.11%.
- City of Los Angeles Documentary Transfer Tax: $4.50 per $1,000 of sale price, or 0.45%.
- Measure ULA (only on sales above the threshold): 4% or 5.5% of the gross sale price, depending on tier.
The thresholds and rates index annually to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Chained Consumer Price Index, which is why the numbers shift every summer.
2026 Thresholds, Before and After July 1
Through June 30, 2026:
- 4% on sales from $5,300,000 to $10,599,999
- 5.5% on sales of $10,600,000 and up
Effective for any transaction recording on or after July 1, 2026:
- 4% on sales from $5,400,000 to $10,899,999
- 5.5% on sales of $10,900,000 and up
If your closing date straddles July 1, the recording date controls. Always confirm current tiers on the City of LA Office of Finance Measure ULA page before you finalize your strategy, because the numbers above are the current published figures and they will move again next summer.
What ULA Costs on Real Los Feliz Sale Prices
The cleanest way to understand the impact is to run it on prices that actually transact in Los Feliz. These are illustrative, not legal advice, and they assume the home is in the City of LA (Los Feliz is) and that no exemption applies.
- $3,200,000 sale: ULA does not apply. You owe the regular city and county transfer taxes only, roughly $17,920 combined.
- $4,950,000 sale: Still under the threshold. No ULA. Regular transfer taxes total about $27,720.
- $5,500,000 sale (any 2026 closing): Above both the pre-July 1 threshold ($5.3M) and the post-July 1 threshold ($5.4M), so ULA at 4% applies on the full $5.5M, or $220,000. Plus regular transfer taxes of about $30,800. Total transfer-tax bucket: roughly $250,800.
- $5,399,000 sale, closing before July 1, 2026: Above the pre-July 1 threshold of $5.3M, so ULA at 4% applies, or about $215,960.
- $5,399,000 sale, closing on or after July 1, 2026: Below the new $5.4M threshold, so ULA does not apply. Total transfer taxes: about $30,234. Same home, same price, but a closing-date difference of one day saves over $215,000.
- $8,000,000 sale: ULA at 4% on $8M is $320,000. Plus regular transfer taxes of $44,800. Total: $364,800.
- $11,000,000 sale (closing on or after July 1, 2026): ULA at 5.5% on $11M is $605,000. Plus regular transfer taxes of $61,600. Total: $666,600.
Two things should jump out. First, ULA applies to the gross sale price, not the portion above the threshold. There is no exclusion. A $5,400,001 sale owes 4% on the full $5,400,001, not 4% on $1. Second, the cliff is real. Pricing strategy at the threshold is not a rounding exercise. It is a six-figure decision.
What ULA Does Not Apply To, and the Limited Exemptions
A few important carve-outs, current as of this writing:
- Sales of property outside City of LA limits do not owe ULA. Burbank, Glendale, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and unincorporated LA County are not subject to it. Los Feliz is fully inside the city, so this rarely matters for you.
- Certain transfers to qualified affordable housing organizations and certain governmental transfers are exempt.
- The tax is owed by the seller, although the contract can technically allocate it. In practice, on Los Feliz luxury sales, the seller pays.
- ULA is not deductible against capital gains. It is a transfer tax, not a selling cost that reduces basis the way commissions and certain fees do, although your CPA may treat it as a selling expense for federal capital gains purposes. Always run that through a tax advisor with the actual closing statement.
People ask whether you can split a sale, sell a partial interest, or roll into a 1031 to avoid ULA. Short version: 1031 exchanges of investment property may avoid ULA in some structures, but a primary residence does not qualify for 1031 at all. Splitting a sale into multiple parcels rarely works because the City looks at the underlying transaction and the assessor groups related transfers. Talk to a real estate attorney before getting creative.
How ULA Should Change Your Pricing and Timing Decisions
For a Los Feliz seller in 2026, ULA mostly affects three decisions.
1. Where to price near the threshold. If your home would naturally land at $5.4M to $5.6M, you and your agent need to look hard at whether the upper end of the range is worth the ULA hit. A list at $5,395,000 that closes within 1% of ask nets you significantly more than a list at $5,495,000 that gives back $30,000 in negotiation and eats $220,000 in tax. The right answer depends on actual recent comps in Los Feliz Estates, the Oaks, Laughlin Park, or your specific submarket. This is exactly the kind of question I walk my Los Feliz clients through before we even talk about a list price.
2. Whether to close before or after July 1. The threshold moves up roughly $100,000 each summer. If your home is right at the prior cap, closing after the July 1 reset can save you the tax outright. But the calendar move only helps if your transaction can wait, your buyer can wait, and your interim costs (carrying, taxes, mortgage) do not eat the savings. For most Los Feliz sellers, the threshold move matters less than getting priced and presented correctly in the first place.
3. How ULA interacts with your true net. Sellers anchor on list price. What actually matters is what hits your account. A $7M list, $6.6M close, 5% commission, $28,000 in transfer tax, $264,000 in ULA, plus a mortgage payoff, prep, escrow, and capital gains, is a very different number from $7M. If you want a real net, not a Zestimate or a Redfin estimate, request a Coastline 840 valuation and seller net sheet at https://coastline840.com/home-valuation. It is built on actual current Los Feliz comps and conditions, with ULA exposure modeled in.
What Else You Need to Plan For Alongside ULA
ULA is the line item people fixate on, but it is rarely the largest one. On a typical Los Feliz luxury sale, your stack of seller-side costs usually breaks down something like this:
- Real estate commissions (post-NAR settlement, often 4% to 5% combined, sometimes lower)
- City of LA + County documentary transfer taxes (about 0.56% combined)
- Measure ULA where applicable (4% or 5.5% on gross)
- Owner's title insurance (Southern California convention; seller pays)
- Escrow fees (typically split or seller-paid by custom)
- Mortgage payoff plus any prepayment items
- HOA transfer fees, statement fees, county recording fees
- Pre-listing prep: paint, staging, light landscaping, photo, sometimes deferred maintenance
- Federal and California capital gains on the portion of the gain above the $250,000 / $500,000 primary-residence exclusion (if it applies)
If your home is an architectural property or a designated Historic-Cultural Monument, there may be additional considerations, especially if you carry a Mills Act contract. The Mills Act passes to the buyer at sale, and disclosure has to be handled cleanly.
For sellers in the Oaks, Laughlin Park, and Los Feliz Estates specifically, ULA exposure is the rule, not the exception. For sellers in the flats below Franklin or in smaller Franklin Hills cottages, you may never come near it. The right move depends entirely on your block, your home, and your number.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Measure ULA apply to all of Los Feliz?
Yes. Los Feliz lies entirely within the City of Los Angeles, so every sale in the neighborhood is potentially subject to Measure ULA if it crosses the dollar threshold. Adjacent areas like Glendale, Burbank, and West Hollywood are different cities and not subject to ULA, but those are not Los Feliz.
Is Measure ULA paid on the gain or the sale price?
The gross sale price. ULA is a transfer tax, not an income tax, so your basis, your improvements, and your mortgage payoff do not reduce the calculation. A $6,000,000 sale owes 4% of $6,000,000, regardless of what you paid for the home or what you owe on it.
Can a buyer agree to pay Measure ULA?
Technically a contract can allocate it, but in practice on Los Feliz luxury sales, sellers pay. Buyers in this market have plenty of inventory to choose from in 2026 and rarely accept a ULA shift. Pricing strategy, not contract gymnastics, is where the real planning happens.
If I sell my Los Feliz home for $5.39M, do I owe ULA?
Under the thresholds in effect through June 30, 2026, yes. The lower tier kicks in at $5,300,000, so a $5.39M sale would owe 4%, or about $215,600. After July 1, 2026, the lower tier moves up to $5,400,000, and the same $5.39M sale would not owe ULA. This is exactly the kind of timing decision worth modeling on your specific situation before you list.
Has Measure ULA been changed or repealed?
Not as of April 2026. There has been ongoing political and legal pressure, and various reform proposals have been floated, but the tax is in effect and revenue has crossed $1 billion. Plan for it as a real cost, not a temporary one.
The Real Number on Your Los Feliz Home
Every Los Feliz block prices differently. Architectural premium, view protection, lot orientation, HCM status, and condition all move the number more than any tax math will. ULA matters at the threshold and above, but the bigger question is always what your home is genuinely worth in today's market and what walking away with after every closing line item actually looks like.
If you want a real number on what your Los Feliz home would sell for in 2026, not a Zestimate, not a Redfin estimate, but an actual valuation grounded in current Los Feliz comps and conditions with your full closing math modeled in, request one at https://coastline840.com/home-valuation.