Local Realtors rail against transfer tax proposal

Vista mayor, industry leaders warn of negative impact on housing market, citing L.A. as an example, as San Diego County considers a tax increase on all real estate sales

North San Diego County Relators Vice President of Government Affairs Taylor Thompson ripped the transfer tax proposal from Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer during a housing market event in Vista on Wednesday. Photo by Don Anderson

VISTA — A controversial proposal for an increase on real estate taxes has local Realtors and their associations fighting back against the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

Vista Mayor John Franklin and Taylor Thompson, vice president of government affairs for the North San Diego County Realtors, are lining up their opposition to a proposed transfer tax from Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer. The two spoke in front of about 100 Realtors on Wednesday during the NSDCR’s annual spring housing market update at Shadowridge Golf Course.

Lawson-Remer floated the proposal a second time several weeks ago but directed county staff to research it and other options. However, she did not cite a specific percentage for the transfer tax.

A transfer tax is a tax on passing the title of any real estate from one person to another.

Franklin and Thompson, along with California Association of Relator’s Economist and Senior Vice President Jordan Levine, who was the keynote speaker, warned a new tax on real estate will have devastating consequences for the housing market.

“This cancer spreads around real quick, and every other transfer tax is just as aggressive as the last,” Thompson added. “We (the industry) had a lawsuit last year where the media and certain politicians say that this industry took too much. That everybody didn’t deserve the commissions they were getting and out of the same side of their mouth, will take 4% for doing absolutely nothing.”

Lawson-Remer, though, floated the idea of the transfer tax as one option to address the county’s $138.5 million budget deficit ($321.9 million by Fiscal Year 2029-30). However, if a transfer tax is approved by the board to go on the ballot, it will require a two-thirds majority of voters to pass.

In 2024, the median San Diego County single-family home price topped $1 million with the median monthly payment reaching $5,295 as of February. In three years, the median payment has jumped by more than $1,500.

Franklin, though, ripped Lawson-Remer and the board majority for hiring 2,500 new employees, creating at least four new departments over the past several years, and then turning to raising taxes as a means to solve their dire budget situation.