By the Numbers
Before you price an Alameda County industrial building, add one line that many sellers’ net sheets leave off: the city transfer tax. On the same $5 million sale, the combined county and city bill runs from about $48,000 in Hayward to $130,500 in Berkeley. The building is identical. The address changes the check.
Two layers of tax, and the city layer does the moving
Alameda County charges a documentary transfer tax of $0.55 per $500 of value, which works out to $1.10 per $1,000. Several cities add their own real property transfer tax on top. Per the Alameda County Auditor-Controller/Clerk-Recorder schedule, city rates are applied to the full value, rounded up to the nearest $500: Hayward $8.50 per $1,000, San Leandro $11.00, the City of Alameda $12.00, Oakland $10.00 to $25.00 by price tier, and Berkeley and Emeryville $25.00 on higher-priced sales.
The same $5 million building, five different bills
Here is the combined county and city tax on an illustrative $5,000,000 industrial sale, using those published rates:
- Hayward: about $48,000 ($42,500 city + $5,500 county)
- San Leandro: about $60,500 ($55,000 + $5,500)
- Alameda: about $65,500 ($60,000 + $5,500)
- Oakland: about $93,000 ($87,500 + $5,500)
- Berkeley: about $130,500 ($125,000 + $5,500)
None of this changes what your building is worth. Buyers in each city are pricing through the same costs. It does change what you net, and it is easy to miss if you are comparing offers from different submarkets or deciding whether a sale beats a refinance.
Oakland’s tiers: the line at $5 million
Oakland’s rate steps up with price: $10 per $1,000 at $300,000 and under, $15 up to $2 million, $17.50 up to $5 million, and $25 above $5 million. Because the rate applies to the full value, crossing a tier changes the tax on the whole sale. In our illustrative example, a $5,000,000 sale pays $87,500 of city tax. At $5,000,001 it pays $125,000. That is $37,500 more, and it is worth knowing before you set a list price or accept a number a few dollars over the line.
Who pays is a negotiation, not a rule
Transfer tax is a closing cost, and who pays it is set in the purchase agreement. Local custom varies by city, and it is often split or assigned differently for the county and city pieces. The practical point: settle it in the LOI, not in escrow. A line that surprises a seller at closing is far easier to handle when it was on the net sheet from day one.
Pro Tip: Ask for the number at the LOI stage
Have your escrow officer or broker run the county and city transfer tax on each offer before you compare them. Rates and tier thresholds change, so confirm the current schedule with the Clerk-Recorder before you rely on any estimate, including the ones above.
Where it fits in your decision
Transfer tax is one piece of your after-sale number, alongside loan payoff, capital gains, and depreciation recapture. Start with a defensible price, which our guide on what your industrial building is worth walks through. Then see how your submarket compares in the Alameda County Industrial Market Guide 2026. Contra Costa, Solano, and Sacramento buildings follow different local rules, so the numbers above apply to Alameda County only.
This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Dollar figures are illustrative. Confirm current rates with the Alameda County Clerk-Recorder, your escrow officer, and your CPA.
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