One of my first posts on this blog was about Measure P and what the impact would be to the housing market. I think that given all the other factors, foreclosure, lending and scared buyers/sellers the impact is hard to judge, but with nearly three months of 2009 in the books here what we know in regards to the dollars generated by the transfer tax.
First of all the numbers reflect on residential housing recorded on the MLS. Commercial building and private sales would take a lot more research, but here are the basics.
From January 1 to March 23, 2009, there were 61 sales that represent over $33 million dollars in transactions. Under the newly enacted $12 per $1,000 the transfer tax generated $398,722 in revenue. If the Council had not made the change the revenue would have been $179,425; a difference of $219,298.
If we compare this to the first quarter of 2008, 63 sales in
In the short-term the tax may be one more factor for people not to buy, but given the stress on the City’s General Fund the tax may have been a necessary step. Only time will tell what the overall impact will be, but we do know that sale price are down about 15% and if the year continues to pace the same way the city will see a decline of about $300,000 in revenue year-over-year even with the increase.
I will continue to follow this topic at the end of each quarter to see how it is pacing.
John
ReplyDeleteDo your sales numbers include any commercial sales eg. apartment buildings?
Most of large apartment buildings are sold outside the MLS. So the data is not complete. Smaller buildings 8 units or less general are accounted in the numbers.
ReplyDelete