Travis County Tax Appraiser: homes down, total stable

I just posted this article from the Austin American-Statesman at www.AustinMarketInfo.com:

Appraisal rarity: Travis home values drop

Notices Of Appraised Value are being mailed this week to property owners throughout Texas.  In Travis County, much like the rest of the Austin metropolitan area, the  average value of a single family home is down in 2010 compared to 2009 — by 2.8%.  Also like the rest of the metro area, the total value of all properties is supported by  new construction and gains in commercial real estate and remains with about 1% of last year’s total.  That is good news for taxing jurisdictions that had anticipated larger  declines, and should reduce pressure on them to increase property tax rates when those decisions are made later in the year.

This chart shows the history of both measures — home and total property values down slightly from last year. 

As always, some neighborhoods will see larger declines while others have experienced value appreciation.  In addition, mailing of valuation notices just begins the appraisal protest season.   Final values won’t  be certified until July.  It is reasonable to expect,  though, that fewer property owners will protest this year than when tax valuations increased across the board. 

I wrote yesterday about this process in Williamson, Bastrop, and Hays Counties (see Central Texas Property Taxes, 04/27/10).  The  average value of a single family home increased slightly in Bastrop County, but declined in Williamson and Hays.  In all three, value  gains in other property categories held total valuations above last year’s figures.