The city?s property values are increasing faster than all other state jurisdictions, driven by new development on the city?s east side.
Over the past three years, property values in the city have seen an average annual increase of 25 percent ? up from 21.6 percent last year ? according to 728,185 assessment notices to be mailed to property owners across Maryland by the state Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT).
“There?s been a lot of new construction and a lot of rehabilitation near Hopkins hospital,” said C. John Sullivan Jr., director of SDAT.
The surrounding counties, though, saw average increases. Increases in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties ranged from 8.1 percent in Howard to 12.9 percent in Harford, all lower than last year. The statewide average annual increase was 11.1 percent, down from last year?s annual increase of 18.7 percent.
“I do know that a lot of the new homes they?re building [in the city] are of higher value than the average home,” said Matt Chambers, professor of economics at Towson University. “Some of that could be the new home building pushing those [city] numbers up.”
The city?s increasing values were “somewhat expected” despite the current real estate slump, said Owen Charles, the supervisor of assessments for Baltimore City. In the Baltimore region, total dollar volume of houses sold in November fell 31 percent from the same month in 2006, according to data released Dec. 10 by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems.
“Increases in assessments are always a concern to residents, but there?s always the assessment cap,” Charles said.
The Homestead Tax Credit is a state law which mandates that all taxable assessment increases for homeowner occupied properties cannot increase by more than 10 percent per year ? Baltimore City?s assessment cap is 4 percent; Harford County?s is 9 percent. To continue their eligibility for the property tax credit, homeowners are required to submit a one-time application to SDAT.
“We don?t want people to panic over this,” Sullivan said. “They have until 2012 to get the application to us.”
In Maryland, properties are reassessed, by law, once every three years. The new assessments are based on the examination of more than 139,300 sales that occurred in the reassessment area over the past three years.
Homeowners whose properties are not in the one-third of homes reassessed this year can wait until their properties are assessed in the next two years to submit a tax credit application, according to SDAT.
PROPERTY VALUE INCREASES
2008 2007
Anne Arundel County 11.6 percent 18.5 percent
Baltimore City 25 percent 19.5 percent
Baltimore County 10.9 percent 21.6 percent
Carroll County 12.5 percent 19 percent
Harford County 12.9 percent 18.5 percent
Howard County 8.1 percent 16.8 percent
State of Maryland 11.1 percent 18.7 percent
Source: State Department of Assessments and Taxation
