Stabilizing Housing Market? Perfect Time To File A Property Tax Appeal

Housing markets across the county are finally showing stabilization. This revelation comes with a sigh of relief on the heels of what has been a rough few years, to put it lightly.

The Federal Tax Credit is partly responsible for growth this spring, as home buyers look to purchase before the tax credit offer runs out at the end of April, 2010. Things are projected to slow down a little bit following the April 30th deadline, however we are still looking at gradual improvements from here on out.

Florida shows significant growth in the market for single-family homes and multi-family condos over March of 2009. Orlando single family home closings in March 2010 are up 40.99 percent from March 2009. Of homes sold in March of 2010, 32.83 percent of those were ‘normal’ sales, while 87.17 percent were ‘short’ sales. The Miami property market showed similar growth. Single-family home sales were up 47 percent from March 2009, and multi-family condo sales were up a whopping 81.5 percent.

In Frederick County, Maryland home sales in March 2010 were up 72.2 percent from March 2009. The average number of days on the market dropped significantly as well. That number is down 68.4 percent from March 2009.

Another sign that the housing market is looking up is the increase in jumbo mortgage loans. A majority of jumbo loans are taken out in five states: California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Virginia. The increase in these larger loans means that the high-end housing market is also improving.

For homeowners looking into a property tax appeal, increased sales means that there will be more available comps on which to base your appeal. Keep in mind that many counties will not allow foreclosures or short sales to be used as comps in any appeal. Our proprietary algorithm takes into account which home sales will be accepted as valid comps in your county.

The turn in the market may indicate that things have bottomed out and that your property could be over assessed, resulting in unfair property tax rates. With this in mind, the upturn in sales and resulting increase in comps to use in your appeal means that now may be the perfect time to file your property tax assessment appeal and lower your property taxes.

How do you think the changing market will affect the number of overassessed homes? Will more homes be overassessed in an up market because assessors know they can get away with it? Or will more homes be overassessed in a down market because the assessor doesn't reduce assessed values fast enough to match the declining market values?