Which Downtown LA condo owners are most likely over-assessed? It depends on when you bought

By HiHolt · October 2026 · Sales data as of October 14, 2026

Short answer: Mostly owners who bought between 2015 and 2022, above all in 2017 and 2018. Among Downtown Los Angeles condo units that sold again from January 2024 on, the typical unit bought in 2017–2018 resold for 18% less than its owner had paid. Over the same years, the official inflation factors under Proposition 13 raised the assessed value of a 2017–2018 purchase by 14% to 18%, unless it has been reduced. Owners who bought in 2009–2012 are in the opposite position: their units typically resold for about 1.5 times the earlier price.

What we measured

We looked at every Downtown Los Angeles condo unit that sold between January 1, 2024 and September 9, 2026, and compared that price with what the same unit sold for the time before. Both prices come from the Los Angeles County Assessor's ownership records. We kept regular sales of a single unit with a recorded price and left out bulk sales of many units at once. That leaves 547 pairs of sales, grouped below by the year of the earlier purchase.

Downtown here is a rectangle around Downtown Los Angeles (latitude 34.03 to 34.08, longitude −118.28 to −118.22), roughly from the 10 Freeway north past Chinatown and from Westlake east to the Los Angeles River. It holds 8,193 condo units assessed at $100,000 or more and at least $150 per square foot; 96% of them are in ZIP codes 90012, 90013, 90014, 90015, 90017 and 90021.

Resale price vs. price paid, by year bought

Each row shows the middle (median) resale for that purchase year: half of the pairs did better, half did worse. Years with fewer than 10 resales are merged or marked.

What stands out:

• 2017 and 2018 were the worst years to buy. The typical unit resold for 18% and 19% less than the earlier price, and 63 of the 80 pairs from those two years sold for less.
• 2015 through 2022: 187 of 279 resales (67%) sold below the price paid; the median was 7% below.
• Many were new units bought from developers. In our pairs, 44% of the 2017–2018 purchases (and 27% across 2016–2019) were the unit's first sale in a building the Assessor lists as completed no more than two years earlier, which is typically a sale by the developer. New units tend to sell at a premium. Those owners' resales came in a median 28% below what they paid; the other 2017–2018 owners', 8% below.
• 2009 through 2012: owners who bought in the years after the 2008 housing crash resold at +45% to +52% over the earlier price, and owners who bought before 2006 at about three times.

Results vary a lot within each year. For 2017–2018 purchases, the middle half of resales ranged from 29% below to 2% below the price paid. Those two rows also lean on a few towers that were new then (about half of each year's resales are in three buildings), but leaving out any one of the five buildings with the most of these resales still puts 2017–2018 at 15% to 18% below. And these are the 547 units that happened to resell, out of 8,193; other units may have done better or worse.

Meanwhile, the Prop 13 value kept rising

Under Proposition 13, a condo's assessed value starts at its market value when bought, usually the price paid, and is then adjusted each year by California inflation, never by more than 2%. Our explainer on Proposition 13 and Proposition 8 covers the rules.

The "Prop 13 value" column multiplies the State Board of Equalization's published inflation factors from the purchase up to the 2026 roll (the January 1, 2026 value). The range depends on the month: after a purchase from January to June, the first increase comes the next January 1 (Revenue and Taxation Code §75.18); after a purchase from July to December, the County's 2026 roll shows it a year later.

Read across a row. Units bought in 2017–2018 resold for about 18% less than the price paid, while the Prop 13 value of a 2017–2018 purchase rose 14% to 18%. For 2009–2012 it is the other way around: resales are up about 51%, more than the Prop 13 value.

Owners who bought in 2006 and 2007, near the previous price peak, show a wide gap as well. But the County's 2026 roll suggests many of them already have a lower value: of 316 owners who bought then and whose purchase we could match to the 2026 roll, 138 (44%) have a 2026 assessed value below their Prop 13 value. Among owners who bought in 2015–2022, it is 140 of 2,485 (6%).

Who is most likely over-assessed

• Bought 2015–2022, especially in 2017–2018 and especially a new unit: resale prices mostly below the price paid, a Prop 13 value that kept rising, and few lower values on the roll so far.
• Bought 2006–2008: also a wide gap, though many 2006–2007 owners already have a lower value on the roll.
• Bought 2013–2014 or in 2023: smaller gaps; it depends on the unit.
• Bought 2009–2012 or before 2006: resale prices are typically above the Prop 13 value, so a reduction is unlikely.

Falling prices do not lower an assessed value on their own. Under Proposition 8, the value on the roll is the lower of the Prop 13 value and the market value on January 1, and it comes down only when the Assessor enrolls a lower market value. For the 2026 roll, the period to ask for that review ends November 30, 2026. For price trends at two Downtown towers, see Downtown LA condo prices fell. Did your property tax?

The year you bought is a starting point, not an answer for your unit. To see where your own Downtown condo stands, enter your address at hiholt.com.

How HiHolt works and what it costs

This section describes our own paid service.

HiHolt prepares and files Proposition 8 decline-in-value reviews for California condo owners. HiHolt is a brand of Fortunewoods LLC, a private company, not a government agency.

1. Enter your address at hiholt.com. Downtown Los Angeles condos are checked online right away; other California condos on request. We compare the County's assessed value, which is public record, with our estimate of market value from recorded sales.
2. If your unit looks over-assessed and you want us to go ahead, you sign a written authorization online. Nothing is filed without it.
3. We prepare the evidence and file the Assessor review for you. When it helps your case, we also file the appeals board application and attend the hearing.

What it costs: 30% of the property tax you actually save for that year. If your tax doesn't go down, you pay nothing. Nothing is charged before we file, and we pay Los Angeles County's $46 appeal filing fee. Our estimate can be wrong, and the Assessor or the appeals board makes the decision, so no one can promise a reduction. HiHolt's filings are made under Los Angeles County Tax Agent Registration Number AG00000-1565.

Required notice

This service is not associated with any government agency. An informal assessment review by the Assessor is free of charge, and you can file an Application for Changed Assessment with the Assessment Appeals Board on your own behalf. The appeals board also has the authority to raise property values, but in no case higher than the Proposition 13 protected value.

Sales data as of October 14, 2026: HiHolt analysis of Los Angeles County Assessor sales records, retrieved that day for 8,193 Downtown condo units (latest resale in the pairs: September 9, 2026). The 2026 roll comparison uses County parcel data compiled September 15, 2026. BOE inflation factors and County pages checked October 14, 2026. Percentages are changes in recorded sale prices, not the market value of any unit. This article reports past sales and general rules and is not legal or tax advice.

Sources:

• Los Angeles County Assessor, Assessor Portal (parcel ownership history records), checked October 14, 2026: portal.assessor.lacounty.gov
• California State Board of Equalization, Letter To Assessors No. 2026/002, "2026-27 California Consumer Price Index" (January 13, 2026), with the table of final inflation factors, checked October 14, 2026: boe.ca.gov
• California State Board of Equalization, "Decline in Value – Proposition 8", checked October 14, 2026: boe.ca.gov
• California Revenue and Taxation Code §75.18, checked October 13, 2026: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
• County of Los Angeles newsroom, Assessor's office release "Decline-in-Value Review Forms Available Now" (July 30, 2026), checked October 14, 2026: lacounty.gov