Eliminating capital gains on home sales would be a boon for older homeowners in high-cost states
Removing or increasing the capital gains limit — currently $250,000 for single homeowners or $500,000 for married couples — on home sales has been a longtime priority for the real estate industry, which argues that steep tax bills are keeping some homeowners who wish to relocate or downsize stuck in homes that no longer fit their needs.
Read more: Capital gains in real estate: How much you'll pay when you sell your home
Take the case of a homeowner in San Francisco, where home prices have more than tripled between 2000 and 2025 to a median price of about $1 million today. A homeowner who purchased in 2000 for $300,000 might have $700,000 of gains if they sell now. Depending on their tax filing status, between $200,000 and $450,000 of those gains could be taxable at rates between 15% and 20%. Under any scenario, their tax bill would be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Those owners are getting more attention in today's market because for-sale inventory is constrained in many parts of the country, pushing home prices to record highs. It's unclear exactly how much helping wealthier homeowners would enliven a sedate market. While it could unlock more inventory, some experts say it could worsen the affordability problem.
Any changes to the capital gains limit would require congressional approval. Trump's comments came earlier this week in response to a question from Brian Glenn, a reporter for the conservative network Real America's Voice and boyfriend of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Georgia Republican recently introduced 'The No Tax on Home Sales Act' to eliminate the taxes.
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Around 10% of homeowners nationally have enough equity to surpass the $500,000 limit for couples, according to the National Association of Realtors, which has advocated for reconsidering the caps. In states where home prices have risen rapidly and homes are more expensive, the share can be far higher.
Alex Caswell, founder of Wealth Script Advisors in San Francisco, works primarily with clients in California and New York, many of whom have to consider capital gains taxes in their housing decisions.
'This will primarily affect people in affluent towns and those who have owned their homes for a long time,' Caswell said. 'We have experienced a significant price increase since the lows of 2008, so anyone who bought after that period stands to benefit significantly.'
He thinks buying and selling activity could tick up in those states if the bill were to pass, but he worries the dynamics could also mean more older homeowners with lots of purchasing power would be competing with first-time homebuyers for smaller, cheaper homes.
Read more: How to buy a house in today's market
Though just a small percentage of home sales exceed the limit, the number has been growing in recent years thanks to unprecedented home price appreciation during the pandemic. In 2023, 7.9% of home sales triggered capital gains above $500,000, up from around 3% between 2017 and 2019, according to real estate data provider Cotality.
In California, nearly 30% of home sales exceeded the $500,000 gains threshold in recent years, along with 24% in Hawaii and 22% in Washington, D.C.
'The current exclusion on $500,000 for a couple is totally inadequate, and that is a real problem,' said John Power, a financial planner at Power Plans in Walpole, Mass. In Massachusetts, 18% of home sales exceeded that cap in 2023.
'You don't have to be rich to have a $1 million home these days in much of the Northeast or Pacific Coast,' he said.
Still, in 18 states tracked by Cotality, less than 5% of home sellers run up against the higher capital gains exceptions.
No matter where they're located, homeowners who have been in their homes for decades and have had the longest time to build equity are most likely to be affected. The Budget Lab at Yale calculated that in 2022, the average homeowner above the exemption was nearly 65 years old, with a net worth of $5.7 million and a home valued at $1.4 million.
While Trump and Taylor Greene have floated eliminating the tax altogether, other advocates have argued for raising the limits. The current caps have been in place since 1997, meaning they haven't kept up with inflation. If they were tied to inflation, they would be just over double current levels, at $506,000 for single filers or $1.13 million for married filers, according to an analysis from Realtor.com.
Laura Lynch, owner of the Tiny House Adviser in Abiquiu, N.M., previously worked in Florida, where she commonly ran into cases where clients were close to or over the exclusion limits. She said it could be particularly problematic in divorce cases, where one party might receive a home in the settlement and then be subject to the lower $250,000 cap for single filers.
Today, she specializes in clients interested in downsizing and tiny home living. She counsels clients facing a big tax bill from a sale that it may be best to pay it and move on if moving to a smaller, cheaper home means they can avoid taking out high-interest home equity loans or lines of credit in the future.
'I advise people to be aware that the only fee-[free] and interest-free way to use home equity is to downsize,' Lynch said. 'Those living on small incomes in retirement are often in a low capital gains bracket, and even max capital gains is far less than ordinary income.'
Claire Boston is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.
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