Selling in New Jersey this fall is absolutely doable. But before you set a price, there’s a New Jersey rule that changed recently and still catches sellers off guard — and around Monmouth County, plenty of ordinary homes are close enough to the threshold for it to matter.
Selling in New Jersey now means paying the mansion tax
For two decades, New Jersey’s 1% supplemental fee on homes over $1 million was paid by the buyer. As of July 10, 2025, that flipped. It’s now called the Graduated Percent Fee, it’s paid by the seller, and the rate scales with price:
| Sale price | Rate |
|---|---|
| $1,000,000 – $2,000,000 | 1% |
| $2,000,000 – $2,500,000 | 2% |
| $2,500,000 – $3,000,000 | 2.5% |
| $3,000,000 – $3,500,000 | 3% |
| Over $3,500,000 | 3.5% |
If you’re using an online closing cost calculator that still lists the mansion tax as a buyer expense, it’s out of date, and the gap could be five figures.
The part that surprises people: it applies to the whole price
This is the detail worth reading twice. The fee is calculated on the entire sale price, not just the portion above the threshold.
So a home selling at $999,000 owes nothing. A home selling at $1,001,000 owes 1% of the full amount — about $10,010.
That’s roughly a $10,000 penalty for two thousand dollars of extra sale price. Cross from $1,999,000 to $2,001,000 and the rate doubles to 2% on everything, which is a swing near $20,000.
If your home is likely to land anywhere near a threshold, that’s a pricing conversation to have before you list, not after you have an offer.
The Realty Transfer Fee, which everyone pays
Separate from the above, and it applies at every price point. The seller pays a graduated fee that works out to roughly 0.4% at the low end and a bit over 1% on higher-priced homes.
On a $700,000 sale — not far off the Monmouth County norm — that’s in the neighborhood of $5,000 to $6,000. It’s not optional and it comes off your proceeds at closing.
There are partial exemptions on the first $150,000 of sale price for sellers who are seniors, blind, or disabled. Worth asking your attorney about if it might apply.
The exit tax nobody expects
If you’re moving out of state, New Jersey requires you to prepay estimated income tax at closing — the greater of 8.97% of your gain or 2% of the sale price.
It’s not an extra tax. It’s a withholding you reconcile when you file, and you may get much of it back. But it comes out of your check at the closing table, which matters enormously if you were counting on those funds for your next purchase.
This one blindsides retirees heading to Florida or the Carolinas more than anyone else.
What to do before selling in New Jersey
Ask for a written net sheet. Not a price estimate — a line-by-line calculation showing sale price minus mortgage payoff, commission, transfer fee, any Graduated Percent Fee, attorney fees, and prorated taxes. The number at the bottom is the only one that matters.
If you’re near $1 million, model both sides of it. Sometimes pricing just under the threshold nets you more than pricing just over. That sounds backwards until you see the math.
Tell your attorney early if you’re leaving the state. The withholding is far easier to plan for than to discover.
Use the attorney review period. New Jersey gives both sides three business days after signing to review and modify the contract. That’s when these costs should be understood, not at closing.
Why this matters more here than most places
In much of the country, a $1 million threshold only affects luxury sellers. In Monmouth County, waterfront and near-beach properties cross it routinely, and plenty of ordinary single-family homes in desirable towns are within striking distance.
Combine that with New Jersey’s requirement that an attorney handle every residential transaction, and the highest property taxes in the country affecting what buyers can afford, and you get a market where the paperwork genuinely changes the outcome.
None of this is a reason not to sell. It’s a reason to know your real number before you pick a list price — because the difference between what your house sells for and what you walk away with is larger in New Jersey than almost anywhere else.
I’m a real estate agent, not an attorney or tax professional. Rates and thresholds reflect New Jersey law as of 2026 — see the NJ Division of Taxation — and exemptions and individual circumstances vary. Confirm your specific figures with your real estate attorney before making pricing decisions. If you want a net sheet for your home, start with what your equity actually is.
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