Home Affordability in Los Angeles, CA
Measure ULA — LA's own "mansion tax" — adds up to 5.5% on the highest-value sales, on top of the same Prop 13 property tax cap San Francisco buyers get.
Quick answer
On a $1,069,000 home in Los Angeles with 20% down, expect all-in monthly housing costs (mortgage, property tax, insurance, maintenance) of roughly $7,900/month — and about $256,400 in total cash to close and move in.
Example scenario at a 6.65% 30-year fixed rate. Illustrative only — run your own numbers below.
The Los Angeles market right now
The median sale price inside the City of Los Angeles was $1,069,000 as of June 2026, essentially flat year over year. That is meaningfully higher than the much-more-quoted Los Angeles County figure — $888,120 in July 2026, down 2.6% year over year — because the county spans a huge area, from desert exurbs like Palmdale and Lancaster to the ultra-high-end Westside. "Los Angeles" the county and "Los Angeles" the city are different markets wearing the same name; the city-limits number is the relevant one if you're actually looking to buy inside LA proper.
What it actually costs to buy in Los Angeles
Most affordability calculators stop at the mortgage payment. That leaves out the two lines that decide whether a purchase is comfortable or tight: property tax and, below 20% down, PMI. Here is the full picture on a $1,069,000 home with 20% down at 6.65%:
| Cost | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Mortgage principal & interest | $5,490 |
| Property tax (1.25%) | $1,114 |
| Homeowners insurance | $417 |
| Maintenance reserve | $891 |
| Total | $7,911 |
Los Angeles shares California's Prop 13 system: your assessed value is fixed at your purchase price and by law can rise at most 2% a year, regardless of the market. On a $1.07M home at an effective rate near 1.25%, that means your property tax bill is far more predictable over a 10- or 20-year hold than in a state that reassesses to market value.
Transfer tax and the long-run trade
A standard Los Angeles sale carries a combined county-plus-city documentary transfer tax of $5.60 per $1,000 (0.56%) — $1.10 to LA County, $4.50 to the City of LA. On top of that, since 2023 Measure ULA — LA's "mansion tax" — adds 4% on the portion of a sale between $5.4M and $10.9M (2026 inflation-adjusted thresholds), and 5.5% above $10.9M. The example home here is well under that threshold, so ULA does not apply — but it is the single most important number to know if you're buying (or eventually selling) at the high end of the LA market.
Two down payment scenarios
Putting down less than 20% brings private mortgage insurance into the picture — priced by how much you put down, not a flat rate. On the same $1,069,000 home:
| 20% down | 10% down | |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment | $213,800 | $106,900 |
| Loan amount | $855,200 | $962,100 |
| Monthly P&I | $5,490 | $6,176 |
| Monthly PMI | $0 | $441 |
| Total monthly housing | $7,911 | $9,038 |
The $106,900 you keep by putting down 10% instead of 20% carries a real recurring cost — about $441/month in PMI on top of a larger loan balance, until the balance falls to 80% of the original purchase price. Whether that trade is worth it depends on what else that cash could do for you: emergency reserves, invested elsewhere, or simply not being spent. That is the kind of trade-off a static calculator cannot weigh but a full 30-year projection can.
Cash needed to close
Beyond the down payment, budget for closing costs, prepaids, and move-in costs:
| Closing costs | $14,766 |
| Prepaids (interest, insurance, tax escrow) | $11,511 |
| Move-in costs | $16,310 |
| Down payment | $213,800 |
| Total cash to close | $256,387 |
What income do you need?
There is no single answer, but there is a useful threshold. Viso starts flagging a purchase as tight once housing — mortgage, property tax, insurance, and PMI, excluding maintenance — passes about 42% of take-home pay. On the 20%-down scenario above, housing runs $7,020/month, which implies take-home of roughly $16,700/month to stay under that line.
We deliberately do not translate that into a gross salary. The gap between gross and take-home swings widely with filing status, retirement contributions, equity compensation, and — a large factor that varies entirely by state — whether you owe state income tax at all. Put your actual income and location into the planner and it will do the conversion properly.
Is 3% appreciation realistic for Los Angeles?
We use 3.0%/year for Los Angeles as a starting assumption. Current data argues for caution on the low side, not the high side: LA County prices are down 2.6% year over year as of July 2026, even as the city-proper median sits roughly flat. That divergence is a reminder that a single "average appreciation" number can mask real short-term softness — worth stress-testing a lower, even negative, near-term rate in the planner.
FAQ
- What is the median home price in Los Angeles right now?
- $1,069,000 inside the City of Los Angeles as of June 2026 (Redfin), roughly flat year over year. The broader LA County median is lower — $888,120 as of July 2026 — because it includes far-cheaper outlying cities.
- Why is the City of LA median higher than the LA County median?
- LA County covers a huge area, including much cheaper desert exurbs like Palmdale and Lancaster alongside the expensive Westside. The city-proper figure describes buying inside Los Angeles itself; the county figure blends in markets most people don’t mean when they say "LA."
- What is Measure ULA, LA's mansion tax?
- A city transfer tax surcharge approved by voters in 2022, funding low-income housing programs. It adds 4% on the portion of a sale between roughly $5.4M and $10.9M, and 5.5% above that (2026 thresholds, adjusted annually for inflation). It does not apply below about $5.4M.
- Does Prop 13 apply in Los Angeles too?
- Yes — Prop 13 is statewide. Your assessed value is locked at your purchase price and can rise at most 2% a year by law, regardless of market appreciation, for as long as you own the home.
- When does PMI drop off in Los Angeles?
- The same rule as everywhere: once your loan balance reaches 80% of the original purchase price. Local appreciation does not speed this up — it is based on the original loan, not current value.
- Is 20% down realistic on a $1M+ Los Angeles home?
- On the example home here, 20% down is roughly $214,000. Plenty of LA buyers put down less and pay PMI as the cost of preserving cash reserves — the right call depends on your full financial picture.
Run your own Los Angeles numbers
Change the price, down payment, income, and rate — and see the full 30-year picture, not just a monthly payment. Free, no account needed.
Start planning →Rate assumption: 6.65% (Freddie Mac PMMS 30-year fixed, as of 2026-08-20). Median price: Redfin, City of Los Angeles home sales, June 2026.