Assessed Value Does Not Equal Market Value
Pierce County property assessments will be in the mail any day now. And already they’re generating some… conversation. On the one hand, you have the TNT’s article with a title that probably got your attention if you’re a homeowner: Pierce County home values plummet
The value of the average home in Pierce County plunged nearly 12 percent this year, marking the fifth consecutive year home assessments have dropped.
On the other hand, you have The Hume Group’s Tacoma Real Estate Blog offering another take: Doom Sells. Newspapers, that is, not homes. Tom Hume offers a new headline: “Assessed value does not equal market value.” The challenge, he points out, is that the assessed values are based on old data and not necessarily current market conditions.
The main hurdle we are facing is that the appraisers, like the TNT, are looking at the past. Appraisers must look 90 days back, or in some cases as far as 6 months. So we are seeing appraisals falling short of market established values. It’s like driving by looking in the rear view mirror.
So while the Assessor’s office may be mailing lower home valuations and the newspapers are putting the details on the front page, Tacoma may not be as bad as it seems …
Every year we read stories about the County assessed home valuations. When you get the annual postcard in the mail, do you care? From what you can tell, is there good news, or is it all doom and gloom?
Filed under: Real-Estate, pierce-county
5 comments
T tacoma_1 June 19, 2012
The Newsless Tribune leads, or rather misleads again with another poorly thought out story.
M monstergirlee June 19, 2012
Home values we so overinflated in ’06-‘09 – of course they’re falling now. I’m not worried, the market still sets the price. It’s fine.
E Erik B. June 19, 2012
“Every year we read stories about the County assessed home valuations. When you get the annual postcard in the mail, do you care? From what you can tell, is there good news, or is it all doom and gloom?”
Tacomans should care, care enough to pick the right Assessor!
P Patricia Menzies June 23, 2012
One of the problems is that the assessed value is used by banks to determine how much they will loan on a mortgage refinance. TAPCO will give me a good rate and I want to get my loan out of Wells Fargo (who bought it from my original “local” bank, Golf, which became Sterling and then sold my loan a month later!) but they will only loan 70% of “accessed value” or 80% at a not as good rate. The value of my home has dropped precipitously since I bought it just two years ago so I’d have to plunk down a lot of cash to make up the difference between the amount TAPCO will loan and what I owe now. THAT is why accessed value is so important. If it drops again this year, I may ask for a reassessment since I’ve done a lot of work on it which should increase the value. I wish the banks would accept an appraisal instead.
P Penelope June 24, 2012
I just received the little green card in the mail with a $200,000.00 increase in value from 2012 to 2013.
What’s that about?