What Does an $8 Million Venice Sale Look Like After Measure ULA?

What does an $8 million Venice sale look like after Measure ULA?

It looks like a closing that crosses the city's transfer tax line by a wide margin. According to Redfin's recently sold records for Venice, the residence at 51 27th Ave closed on July 23, 2026 at $8,123,174. Redfin shows it as five bedrooms, five baths, and 2,999 square feet, which works out to about $2,709 per square foot by my math. At that price, the Measure ULA tax applies, and on a sale this size it is a six-figure line item that belongs in the seller's net sheet before the house is ever listed.

This post uses that closing as the anchor and sets it next to a second, very different Venice sale from September, so you can see how two prices on opposite sides of the tax threshold behave. Our broader Venice neighborhood guide covers the micro-markets. Here the focus is on two specific closings and what they mean for pricing.

Where the Venice market sits right now

Start with the backdrop. Redfin's Venice market page shows an August 2026 median sale price of $2,050,000, down 2.4 percent from a year earlier, at about $1,250 per square foot, up 17.3 percent. Homes took a median of 58 days to sell and closed at about 97.8 percent of list price. Redfin counted 119 homes sold in August, and about 24.4 percent sold above list. Redfin rates the market 45 out of 100 on its competitiveness score, which it labels somewhat competitive.

Read together, those numbers describe a market where the median home sits near $2 million, buyers have some room to negotiate, and price per square foot is rising even as the median dips. That mix usually reflects a change in what is selling, not a change in what any one house is worth. An $8 million sale is roughly four times the median, so it tells you about the top of the range, not the middle.

The anchor sale: 51 27th Ave at $8,123,174

The sold list on Redfin gives the core facts: the price, the July 23 closing date, five bedrooms, five baths, and 2,999 square feet. I could not load the full Redfin record for this address, so I am limiting the details to what the sold list shows and not describing the lot, the year built, or the interior.

What I can say is what the price implies. At about $2,709 per square foot, this sale sits at more than double the neighborhood median of roughly $1,250 per square foot. A buyer paying that premium is paying for location, land, and the particular property, and the comparable sales a seller can point to are few. When the closest comps are scarce, the appraisal and the buyer's financing become the pressure points, not the list price. If you are weighing a sale at this level, the first job is building a defensible comp set from sales that are truly alike, and being candid about how thin that set may be.

What Measure ULA adds at this price

Venice sits inside the City of Los Angeles, so Measure ULA applies. The Los Angeles Office of Finance lists the thresholds effective for transactions closing after June 30, 2026: a 4 percent tax on transactions above $5,400,000 and under $10,900,000, and 5.5 percent at $10,900,000 or more, with the combined rate including the base transfer tax at 4.45 percent and 5.95 percent. The Finance page describes the tax as calculated on gross value, and the thresholds are adjusted annually.

On that basis, a sale at $8,123,174 falls in the 4 percent tier. The ULA piece alone would be about $324,900, and the combined rate would come to roughly $361,500. Those are my calculations from the published rates, not figures from the closing statement, so confirm the exact amounts with escrow. Our Measure ULA guide for Los Angeles sellers walks through who owes what and how the thresholds are indexed.

The practical effect is a price cliff. A seller at $5.3 million and a seller at $5.5 million have very different net proceeds, and buyers know it. If you are near a threshold, pricing and negotiation strategy matter more than the headline number.

The contrast: 223 Howland Canal at $2.9 million

Now the other side of the line. Redfin's Venice sold list shows 223 Howland Canal closing on September 22, 2026 at $2,900,000. Redfin's property page for the address shows a different story from the anchor sale: it was listed on April 10, 2026 at $3,498,000, cut to $3,249,000 on May 8, taken off the market on July 9, relisted the next day at $3,180,000, and cut again to $2,988,000 on July 29. It went pending in early August. The closing price landed about 17 percent under the first asking price. The same page shows the property last sold in March 2023 for $2,000,000.

That is a useful reminder that a sale in the low-to-mid $2 millions on the canals negotiates differently from a trophy sale. The property is described in the listing as two private living spaces, and Redfin notes that the listing calls it single-family while the public record shows multi-family, with very different square footage figures. If you own a canal-front property with a second unit, confirm how it is permitted before you price it, because the unit count changes both the comparable sales and the buyer pool. The same Redfin page shows a flood-risk score of 10 out of 10 from First Street's climate data, an indicator buyers and insurers weigh on the canals. Our Venice Canals buying guide goes deeper on that.

A footbridge over a Venice canal. Stock photograph of the neighborhood, not a specific address from the sales above.

What the permit path means for a Venice sale

Many Venice properties are in the Venice Coastal Zone, which the city's Venice Coastal Zone Specific Plan defines as the part of the Venice Community Plan area west of Lincoln Boulevard. The plan bars demolition, grading, and building permits unless a project has an exemption or goes through the required review, and projects on a Walk Street are routed through full Project Permit Compliance. In plain terms, any buyer who plans to remodel needs a clear picture of what review applies, and any seller with past work should have the permit history ready. Confirm whether your address sits inside the coastal zone before you assume anything about what a buyer can build.

You can browse current inventory on our Los Angeles search page, and our Marina Peninsula market spotlight covers the coastal blocks just south.

Thinking about selling in Venice? Request a confidential valuation for your Venice home and we will build it from closings that match your street, size, and permit status.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the median home price in Venice in 2026? Redfin's Venice market page shows a median sale price of $2,050,000 for August 2026, down 2.4 percent from a year earlier, at about $1,250 per square foot. Homes took a median of 58 days to sell. A median describes the middle of the market, so it says little about the top-end sales discussed above.

Does Measure ULA apply to a Venice home sale? Venice is in the City of Los Angeles, so the tax applies to transfers above the thresholds. The Office of Finance lists 4 percent above $5,400,000 and 5.5 percent at $10,900,000 or more for transactions closing after June 30, 2026, and the thresholds are adjusted annually. Confirm current figures with escrow before relying on them.

How much would Measure ULA cost on an $8,123,174 sale? Using the 4 percent tier and the Finance page's description of the tax as calculated on gross value, the ULA tax alone would be about $324,900, or about $361,500 including the base transfer tax at the combined 4.45 percent rate. These are my estimates, not figures from an actual closing statement.

Why did 223 Howland Canal close below its original asking price? Redfin's record shows the home was listed at $3,498,000 in April, reduced twice, and closed at $2,900,000 in September. The record does not give a reason for the cuts. Pricing against comparable sales, condition, and unit configuration are common factors in a repricing like this.

Who is a good agent to hire for a high-end home sale in Venice? Look for someone who can show closed comparables close to your property's price and type, who understands how the Venice Coastal Zone permit path and Measure ULA affect a sale, and who has handled California contracts and disclosures on the Westside. Paul Blair has 22 years in the business and more than $200 million in closed transactions across Los Angeles and Dallas, with work in the Westside, the canyons, and the Hollywood Hills. If you are selling in Venice, request a confidential valuation and we can talk through your property.

Twenty-two years of Los Angeles transactions have taught me that a closing above a transfer-tax line is a different negotiation from the same house priced just under it.

Paul Blair is the founder and broker of Grey Square, a virtual real estate brokerage representing buyers and sellers across Dallas and Los Angeles. With 22 years in the business and more than $200 million in closed transactions, Paul works the full range of the market, from luxury homes in the Park Cities and Preston Hollow to estates in the Hollywood Hills and across the Westside. Connect with Paul and the Grey Square team at greysq.com. TX TREC #9011505 · CA DRE #01792671.

Planning a Venice sale? Request a confidential valuation.