Mansion tax

The mansion tax is the buyer-paid transfer-tax tier on residential purchases above a statutory price threshold, with graduated rates climbing at higher price tiers since the state expanded it. The name is historical marketing — in the city's market, the threshold captures ordinary apartments, not estates.

Its analytical relevance is behavioral: because the tax steps at price tiers, closing prices cluster just under the thresholds — a documented distortion visible in transaction data, and a reminder that recorded prices respond to tax geometry, not just value. Deal structures that allocate price between components also live partly in this tax's shadow.