California · Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area

Buying a home in Torrance, California

In Torrance, the median value of owner-occupied homes is $1,074,700, Los Angeles County's effective property tax rate is 0.68%, a purchase mortgage carried a median $11,266 in total loan costs in 2025, and median gross rent is $2,280 a month.

Data as of : Census ACS 2020-2024, Census Vintage 2024, HMDA 2025, HUD FY 2027. Sources

Torrance home costs, fact by fact

About Torrance

Median gross rent is $2,280 a month, and 55% of homes are owner-occupied. The city had 139,576 residents in the latest estimate. The place lies in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area.

Reading the Torrance figures

Torrance reads high against California. Owners put the median home at $1,074,700, while the state as a whole sits at $770,700. Costa Mesa edges ahead at $1,115,100; Daly City is a hair lower at $1,115,000. Glendale follows at $1,102,300, then Huntington Beach at $1,100,000, then Pasadena at $1,093,300, so Torrance trails a tight group of covered cities. Burbank, at $1,089,100, is a little above as well. Orange comes in lower, at $945,800. Los Angeles sits further down at $921,200, with Fullerton lower still at $902,600. Because these are owners' estimates and not sale prices, use them to place Torrance, not to price a particular house.

Rents tell a different story from values. Torrance's median is $2,280 a month, almost level with Pasadena (reading $2,265). Daly City's $2,551 is higher; so is Costa Mesa's $2,446, even though its value is only slightly above Torrance's. Glendale records $2,182 and Burbank $2,192, a little less. Oakland sits well under at $1,979, with Los Angeles under that at $1,933. HUD publishes $2,964 for the smaller size and $3,760 for the larger in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale zone. Being a HUD yardstick for the whole zone rather than a median taken from Torrance rentals, it lies well above the city's own $2,280, so do not read the gap as a bargain or a penalty. Put plainly, the median rent sits under that smaller-size figure.

Ownership is the other contrast. In Torrance 55% of households own, in line with Huntington Beach (55.4%) and close to Orange (56.7%). Glendale has only 35.2% owners, Costa Mesa 39.6% and Burbank 43.3%, so renters make up a larger part of those cities. Daly City goes the opposite way with 60.2%. A buyer comparing Torrance with Glendale is therefore looking at a similar value with a very different mix of owners and tenants.

The tax and lending figures belong to Los Angeles County. A 0.68% rate applied to homes valued at $834,200 in the middle of the county produces a typical annual bill of $5,675. Since Torrance owners estimate their own homes higher than that county value, work the rate against the price you expect to pay. In 2025 the HMDA data counted 32,309 loans in the county, costing $11,266 at the median, while the middle of the distribution stretched from $7,619 to $18,640. A gap that wide means lender quotes deserve comparison. Torrance, with 139,576 residents, forms part of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro area of 12,927,614 people (2nd in the national ranking). Torrance is one of 77 covered California cities. Neither the owner estimates nor the HUD benchmarks are recorded transactions, so treat each comparison here as a way to read the figures, not as a price.

Calculate for California

If you buy

California state transfer tax

California has no state transfer tax; counties and cities may charge one.

Price$770,700
State transfer taxnot computed
Who paysSet by the purchase contract

Default price: the California median value of owner-occupied homes, $770,700 (Census ACS 2025). Not computed: No state tax. The tax is set by county and city, so it cannot be computed from the state alone. Who pays: Neither the state statute nor the City of Los Angeles FAQ assigns the tax; the purchase contract and escrow instructions decide. Not included: county and city transfer taxes, recording fees, title insurance and lender charges. California transfer tax guide · all 50 states.

If you sell

Capital gain and the federal tax on it

Same federal rule in every state: Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code excludes up to $250,000 of gain on a main home ($500,000 for a married couple filing jointly).

Capital gain$350,000
Section 121 exclusion$250,000 (limit $250,000)
Taxable gain$100,000
Type of gainLong-term (owned over 1 year), 15% chosen
Federal tax on the gain$15,000

Section 121 excludes $250,000; the rest is taxable.

Gain = sale price minus your adjusted basis (purchase price, buying costs and improvements); selling expenses reduce it (IRS Publication 523). Long-term rates for sales in 2026, by taxable income including the gain (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.03): 0% up to $49,450 single or $98,900 married filing jointly, 15% up to $545,500 single or $613,700 jointly, 20% above. Not included: California state income tax on the gain (not computed), the net investment income tax, depreciation recapture on a rental or home office, and the reduced exclusion for an early sale. Agent commissions are negotiated and never set by law. Capital gains on a home sale.

Questions about buying a home in Torrance

How much is property tax in Torrance?

Homeowners in Los Angeles County pay a median $5,675 a year in property tax, 0.68% of the county median home value of $834,200 (Census ACS 2020-2024). Your bill depends on your assessed value and local rates.

What are closing costs on a mortgage in Torrance?

Home-purchase mortgages in Los Angeles County carried median total loan costs of $11,266 in 2025; half of the 32,309 loans fell between $7,619 and $18,640 (HMDA). Total loan costs are the lender and settlement-service charges of the Closing Disclosure; transfer taxes and prepaid items come on top.

Is there a transfer tax when you buy a home in Torrance?

California has no state transfer tax. Counties may charge $0.55 per $500 of value under the Documentary Transfer Tax Act, and cities such as Los Angeles add their own, with Measure ULA adding 4% or 5.5% on very high-priced sales.

Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Torrance?

It depends on your mortgage rate, down payment and how long you stay. As a benchmark, the median value of owner-occupied homes in Torrance ($1,074,700) equals 39.3 years of the median gross rent ($2,280 a month), both from Census ACS 2020-2024.

What natural hazards affect home insurance in Torrance?

Across California, the main hazards for home insurance are earthquake, wildfire, flood and landslide, and the insurer of last resort is California FAIR Plan. A standard California homeowners policy does not cover earthquake damage; insurers must offer earthquake coverage (Insurance Code 10081), and the FAIR Plan sells limited fire coverage up to $3 million for residential policyholders.

Run your own numbers: rent vs buy calculator · closing costs calculator.

California rules that apply in Torrance

Other large cities in California

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Sources

California · All states · Federal guides