CAR Applauds Bill to Increase Capital Gains Exclusion and Free Up Housing Inventory

For release:
September 29, 2022

California Realtors^® applaud bill to increase capital gains exclusion and free up housing inventory

LOS ANGELES (September 29) – THE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REAL ESTATE AGENTS^® (AUTO) today released the following statement in response to the “More Homes on the Market Act” presented today by House Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Mike Kelly (R-PA). The bipartisan bill increases the capital gains exclusion amounts on the sale of a principal residence to $500,000 for single filers and $1 million for joint filers and indexes the exclusion based on the ‘inflation.

« CALIFORNIAN REAL ESTATE AGENTS^® thank Congressman Panetta for introducing the More Homes on the Market Act, which will provide much-needed tax relief to California homeowners, especially seniors, who have been unable to move due to the heavy tax burden that could result if they were to sell,” said CAR President Otto Catrina, a Bay Area realtor and real estate agent.^®.

For California workers, a home is their biggest and most important investment. However, since the capital gains exclusion was enacted 25 years ago without indexing to inflation, fewer and fewer families have been able to downsize and access the equity accumulated in their homes. This has had the effect of reducing the number of homes available to young and first-time buyers, further driving up demand and housing prices.

The National Association of Realtors^® estimates that in California up to 95% of single homeowners and 68% of married homeowners who bought their homes before 2000 could be subject to capital gains tax if they sold their homes that year.

Leading the Way…® in California real estate for more than 110 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state-trading organizations in the United States, with over of 217,000 members dedicated to advancing professionalism in real estate. CAR is headquartered in Los Angeles.

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