Two numbers describe every California home: the price it would sell for and the value it is taxed on. Proposition 13 lets them drift apart for as long as an owner stays. This handbook page puts numbers on that drift for San Clemente, using the public data behind the weekly reports.
Market Handbook
Prop 13 by the Numbers: Assessed vs. Market Value
The gap between what a San Clemente home is assessed at and what it would sell for, measured with public data, and why it matters when you read a listing.
Two values for every home
The market value is what a buyer would pay, and it moves with the market. The assessed value is what the county taxes, and it changes in two ways: it rises by inflation or 2% a year, whichever is less, and it is reset to the purchase price when the home is sold. The state’s rules are set out in Proposition 13, approved by voters on June 6, 1978.
The reports on this site describe market values. The tax bill describes assessed values. Reading one against the other is how you tell whether a listed tax figure will apply to you: it will not, if the home has been sold since the assessment was set.
Long run
An earlier purchase, seen from today
How wide the gap can grow: what a 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 or 2020 purchase in ZIP 92672 looks like now.
A purchase in an earlier year, seen from today
Zillow typical value for ZIP 92672. The assessed value is shown at its highest possible path (2% a year, the most Proposition 13 allows; in low-inflation years the allowed increase is smaller, so an actual assessed value would be equal or lower), and never above today’s market value. Taxed at 1.15%. Illustration only.
| Bought in | Typical value then | Assessed value today (at most) | Market value today | Bill on the earlier purchase (at most) | Bill on a purchase today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $310,728 | $519,978 | $1,747,711 | $5,980 | $20,099 |
| 2005 | $713,386 | $1,081,255 | $1,747,711 | $12,434 | $20,099 |
| 2010 | $529,611 | $727,042 | $1,747,711 | $8,361 | $20,099 |
| 2015 | $687,141 | $854,373 | $1,747,711 | $9,825 | $20,099 |
| 2020 | $1,017,385 | $1,145,741 | $1,747,711 | $13,176 | $20,099 |
The longer an owner has held a home, the wider the gap between the two bills, which is one reason a home’s listing price and its current tax bill can look so far apart. It is also why the tax on the home you buy will be based on what you pay, not on what the seller pays.
Reading a listing’s tax figure
- Ignore the seller’s bill for your budget. Yours will be based on your price.
- Use about 1.1% to 1.25% of the price a year as a first estimate, and more where special taxes apply.
- Expect a supplemental bill in the months after closing for the difference between the old and new assessed value.
- Check the special taxes. Mello-Roos and similar charges are not limited by Proposition 13.
The data
Where values sit against the recent peak
Assessed values can be reduced temporarily when market value falls below them (Proposition 8). Here is how San Clemente’s values compare with the last five years.
Today against the last five years
Zillow typical value for ZIP 92672. A temporary reduction under Prop 8 depends on a home’s own market value on January 1, not on an area average.
| When | Typical value | Compared with now |
|---|---|---|
| Latest (Aug 2026) | $1,747,711 | — |
| A year ago | $1,626,049 | −7% vs now |
| Two years ago | $1,608,576 | −8% vs now |
| Highest in the last five years (Aug 2026) | $1,747,711 | +0% vs now |
The typical value today is at or near its highest point of the last five years ($1,747,711 in Aug 2026), so at the area level there is little sign of assessed values sitting above market values right now. An individual home can still differ from the area average, and a review is free to request if you think yours does.
Worked example
The next ten years, as an illustration
A purchase at today’s typical value, with the assessed value at the 2% cap and the market value rising 3% a year.
What the bill could look like, year by year
The starting point is the typical home value in ZIP 92672: $1,747,711 in Aug 2026. The tax rate used is 1.15% (the 1.00% base and a round 0.15% for bonds and local charges). The assessed value grows at the 2% ceiling, and the market value at 3% a year, only to show how the two separate.
| Year | Taxed value (2% cap) | Bill on that value | Market value at 3% a year | Bill at market value | Gap between the two |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $1,747,711 | $20,099 | $1,747,711 | $20,099 | $0 |
| Year 2 | $1,782,666 | $20,501 | $1,800,143 | $20,702 | $17,477 |
| Year 3 | $1,818,319 | $20,911 | $1,854,147 | $21,323 | $35,828 |
| Year 5 | $1,891,779 | $21,755 | $1,967,065 | $22,621 | $75,286 |
| Year 10 | $2,088,677 | $24,020 | $2,280,367 | $26,224 | $191,690 |
Put simply, a purchase at $1,747,711 starts near $20,099 a year, or $1,675 a month. Ten years on, the owner’s bill has grown to roughly $24,020 at most; someone buying an identical home then would begin near $26,224. Left out here: special taxes, the $7,000 homeowners’ exemption and any Proposition 8 reduction.
Common questions
Is the assessed value ever higher than the market value?
It can be, in a falling market. Proposition 8 lets an owner ask the assessor for a temporary reduction when the market value on January 1 is below the assessed value.
Why do two similar homes have very different tax bills?
Because each is assessed from its own most recent sale or new construction, then raised by no more than 2% a year.
Does the percentage change in values tell me the change in tax?
No. The bill follows the assessed value, which rises by at most 2% a year while the owner stays.
What is the source of the values?
Zillow’s Home Value Index, described on the market handbook page.
Keep exploring
- The market handbook — What each number measures and how to read it.
- Weekly market reports — The gauge, week-over-week and month-over-month.
- Neighborhood data — Beach, hillside, condo and planned-community numbers.
- Property tax estimator — Try your own numbers.
Talk to a lender. Rates, loan programs and approvals come from lenders, not from websites or real estate agents. Talk to your own mortgage broker, or use our preferred lender, Rodrigo Ballon with CrossCountry Mortgage, at 858-735-0255. You are always free to choose any lender you like, and you can verify any lender’s license at nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
Sources
- Public Policy Institute of California: Proposition 13, 40 years later
- Orange County Assessor: buying or selling property
- San Diego County Assessor: Mello-Roos
General information for orientation, not legal, tax, financial or appraisal advice. Details change; confirm anything that matters with the official source, your lender and your agent.