&gt; People are also allowed to sell their home for more than the assessed tax value, precisely because people speculate on price increases of their homes. If that wasn&#x27;t one of the primary reasons behind Proposition 13 then people would have been OK with only being able to sell their home at the assessed value.<p>I am not sure what you&#x27;re describing is correct - each time I bought a property in California the assessed tax value next year was precisely the sale price.<p>Here&#x27;s what California has to say on it:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.lao.ca.gov&#x2F;reports&#x2F;2012&#x2F;tax&#x2F;property-tax-primer-112912.aspx" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.lao.ca.gov&#x2F;reports&#x2F;2012&#x2F;tax&#x2F;property-tax-primer-1...</a><p>The process that county assessors use to determine the value of real property was established by Proposition 13. Under this system, when real property is purchased, the county assessor assigns it an assessed value that is equal to its purchase price, or “acquisition value.”