Why Do Our Assessments Go Up So Much?
Assessments are determined by sale prices of "comparable" houses in our neighborhood. If prices in the neighborhood go up, the assessments go up. Simple as that.
Recent Sales
This chart shows the trend in selling price over the past two years or so. The trend is shown by the red line. The increase is slightly under $100K a year, which is about the rate at which our assessments have been rising.
Sale Price vs Assessed Value
Our houses have been selling for well above their assessed values in most cases, as shown in this chart. The rare instances where the sale price is lower than the assessed value come from estate sales and partial interest sales. Most of the sales are for $100K to $200K above the assessed value. Thus, we can expect our assessments to rise significantly again next year. (The county only controls the tax rate, not the assessed value.)
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