Effective December 12th, 2008 the city of Alameda increased their point of sale city transfer tax from $5.40 per $1000 of purchase price to $12.00 per thousand. There are two transfer taxes involved in buying a selling a home; county transfer tax is a generally paid by the seller when a house is sold. The county of Alameda charges $1.10 per $1000 of purchase price, so if a house is $500,000 the transfer tax will be $550. City transfer tax varies city to city, this tax is generally split 50/50 between the buyer and seller. So if you purchase a house in Alameda for $500,000 both the buyer and seller will pay, $3000 each as part of their closing cost.