2010 City of Harrisonburg Real Estate Reassessment


2010 City of Harrisonburg Real Estate Reassessment
November 24, 2009 Filed In: assessments, government, market
The City of Harrisonburg has reassessed all real property as they do each year, and it appears that there wasn't a significant (overall) shift in assessments. Of the 12,000 parcels of real estate, nearly 8,700 had a change in their assessed value, with 3,100 of the values decreasing and roughly 5,600 increasing. That is to say..... 26% of city properties decreased in assessed value 27% of city properties saw no change in assessed value 47% of city properties increased in assessed value The median assessed value increased by $400, which equates to an annual increase of $2.36 in taxes. Yes folks, that's a 20-cent increase per month. If you don't believe your assessment is accurate, you can appeal the assessment starting the week of December 7th. Or you can express your frustration (or delight) in the comment section below. The bigger (MUCH BIGGER) news (or controversy) coming down the pike is the Rockingham County real estate reassessment coming in early 2010. These assessed values haven't adjusted in four years, so many people will likely see big increases in their tax bills despite feeling that they have seen no gain (or a loss) in value over the most recent few years. Stay tuned!
Based on information from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Association of REALTORS® or its MLS, for the period Jan 1, 2000 through Sep 07, 2010 (unless otherwise noted).
Have any questions? Contact Scott Rogers at 540-578-0102 or scott@cbfunkhouser.com
Like what you're reading? Receive HarrisonburgHousingToday.com Updates by Email
Comments (5) or Subscribe
Close Comments 5 Comments so far . . . Josh: in 2007, my property saw a 14% increase in assessed value! At this point, it seems that my assessed property value is greater than the market value. This a common concern I've heard from friends. November 25, 2009 9:07 am Scott Rogers: Josh, How long have you owned your property? Or, how much of a history do you have of the assessed value? The median sales price has increased 49% between 2003 and 2009. I'd be curious whether your assessed value increased by more or less than 49% in that same time. As another reference point, median sales price increased by 17% between 2003 and 2004, 14% between 2004 and 2005, 14% between 2005 and 2006, and then has fluctuated up/down by about 1% each year since then. If 2007 assessments were based on 2005 versus 2006 values, the 14% increase would track with the market increase. All that said, I have talked to several city property owners who are in the same boat as you --- they believe their assessment is greater than market value. November 25, 2009 9:42 am Josh: I've owned my property for 5 years now, since Dec 2004. 2010 ??? haven't heard anything yet 2009 +3.25% (+45.71% since purchase) 2008 +14.19% (+41.12% since purchase) 2007 +23.58% (+23.58% since purchase) 2005 baseline (69% of 2009 assessment) Looking at the earliest available assessment until the latest available assessment 5/2000 (2001) through 5/2008 (2009), there is a 86.23% increase. Looking at the 2003-2009 time frame that you mentioned, there is a 64.37% increase. November 25, 2009 10:08 am Terry: I too am having issues. My townhouse was originally purchased in 2006 for 148,900, valued at 150,100. The city tried to raise that to 168,000 two years ago and I appealed and received a value of 160,100 in 2008. The proposed value for 2010 is 165,100. The assessments are on data 1 to 1.5 years old. I am appealing again for 155,100. All the sales data on line for my community shows an average sale price in 2008 and 2009 of 152,000 for a townhouse of my size. This is very frustrating to have to go through twice in two years. November 25, 2009 11:56 am Scott Rogers: Josh... We might assume that your assessment didn't change for 2010, since you haven't heard anything yet. I look forward to seeing them posted online, but they aren't yet: http://www.harrisonburgva.gov/infoprop. It is interesting to see that you saw a 64% increase between 2003 and 2009. It's still draw any conclusions, as any of the following could be true: 1. Your assessment is now too high. 2. Your assessment was too low in 2003. 3. Your assessment was accurate in 2003 and is accurate now, and thus your property has appreciated at 64% over six years instead of the median of 49%. Terry.... It is certainly frustrating to have to go through the same process twice. One challenging aspect of the assessment process is that the calculations are always based on 12 to 18 month old data. Thus, you'll win sometimes, and lose sometimes. When home values (as per median sales prices) were going up 14% per year, it was to the tax payer's benefit that assessments were based on old data. Now that values have been declining (sort of) at 1% per year, the data lag is (slightly) to the tax payer's detriment. It sounds like you live in a townhouse subdivision, and if there are recent sales on the record, it seems that you should have a relatively straightforward time appealing the assessed value! November 25, 2009 12:14 pm Add A Comment: Name (required) E-mail (required, not published) Website Prove you're not a comment-spammer . . .