[dbjacobs]

> It used to be that if you sold one house and bought another for same price then there would be no appreciation taxes, but that stopped a few(?) years ago.

In the US from 1964 to 1997 you could upgrade your home (i.e., buy one equal or more expensive) and avoid capital gains taxes and after age 55, you could downsize once and not pay capital gains taxes.

From 1997, we've had the current regime of $250K/single, $500K/couple exclusion if you lived there 2 of the previous 5 years from the sale.