This picture represents what is happening to the American Dream of owning your own home and having that home increase in value. It is going down the drain, at least in 2008. Zillow.com, a website that follows real estate trends, reports that in the third quarter of 2008, real estate values in the United States declined by 9.7% compared to 2007. Real estate values are down by 12.8% compared to 2006.
If click on the link above, you will find this really interesting tool that Zillow has created that shows the decline in real estate values by metropolitan area.
While things are bad for Cleveland, they are horrible for parts of Florida and California. In Miami, for example, values have declined by 21.5% compared to one year ago. In Riverside, California, real estate values have declined by 30.4% compared to one year ago.
Basically, according to Zillow, the United States real estate market just plain sucks.
3 comments:
Look at your own homes on Zillow and then send the info. from Zillow to the County Auditor's office along with a letter to lower your property taxes accordingly. I cannot believe they actually try to raise property tax value???When you've done this...check it again and again (bi-monthly?) and just watch the values fall some more. Zillow is the #1 starting point to evaluate one's ability to refinance. Do you have ANY idea how difficult it is to tell a client that their house is worth far less than they paid for it?, owe on it? and...that they are stuck in that sub-prime adjustable rate due to this? Rates are now in the "4's" 30 yr. fixed only the majority can't have this rate due to value vs. balance owed. Then you have to wonder...how ARE the foreclosures going to ever end? Simple...they've only just begun. Again...how is it that some counties are even attempting to raise property taxes claiming the value is higher? Please.
It's important to understand where county appraised values come from and how they relate to current value. It's particularly important given the current environment. The value upon which you paid taxes last year was based on the value as of January 1, 2007. Therefore, the current sales have no bearing on that value. Only sales before January 1, 2007 can even be considered.
While this may seem unfair in a down market, it has protected all of us for the last 25 years in up markets.
For the tax bills you pay in 2009, that property value is based upon the market as of January 1, 2008. You can look at all sales in 2007, 2006 and 2005 to determine if your property is over valued. While Zillow is a useful tool, you are much better off to use the actual sales in Medina County to determine your specific market value. All sales in the county are listed on my website, www.medinacountyauditor.org. If you find your property is overvalued based on the market as of January 1, 2008 appeal that value through the Board of Revision. If anyone has any questions, call me at 330-764-8051. It is a very direct and straight forward process.
Mike Kovack, County Auditor
Please know, there is no dis-respect to Mr. Kovack, I understand you are currently basing our values using "old" and inflated sales up to 1-07 "only". I also understand this is how it's been done for a very long time and for a very long time it was correct and FAIR, but values were inflated wrongfully in this batch of recent years that you are using. It is inaccurate to use sales of INFLATED values that never should have been NOR WOULD HAVE BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE AGAIN (I HOPE)due to the masses of sales encouraged by bad loans and their lack of regulations caused/influenced by the Bush Administration in the deregulations that have occured over the last 8 yrs. in lending practices. My gosh...look at CA's. and FL's. false values. I watched homes go from 350k to 700k in value in just a 1 yrs time, some builders cleaned up and loads are holding the bag now with 1/2 built homes. I'm SURE of it you know what I am saying here. It is time they are now "back down where they belong" only going down TOO much and we can't stop it yet...and how many folks are left holding the bag on a mtg. of 700k or more? Like many here too. It's the same thing here, maybe not in such big numbers but it IS. Any State licensed appraiser, while trying to use only arms length transacion sales (real sales) vs. using "auctioned foreclosed sales" in giving a value have no choice, that is now the case in Akron, Cleveland and is now seeping into Medina County too. An appraiser has/will have no choice but to use the auctioned and foreclosed values. In other words with using "old school" regulations in lending practices "once again" and by the way the banks ARE loaning unlike what they say on the news, only now using "old school" guidelines and no more "funny and fuzzy" math loans thus "appears" they are being too strict? Please......heck no...they are doing "old school" lending. Without the de- regulations...these "sales" would not have occured driving up a false value. I think it wise to understand however that you will have no choice as is the case in Summit and Cuyahoga shortly to use the auctioned foreclosure values in your comparables in valuation of taxes. How do you get to go around those sales when a standard State licensed appraiser cannot? If you used recent sales as "you will have to very soon" (you too must use these sales or SHOULD I hope because in reality Mr. Kovack, values were far too inflated anyway) Are you saying that you will "decrease" tax values accordingly come 2009 and so on? Please verify that you will have to use the same standards as any other appraiser in giving value to a home because if not you are inflating taxes to values that no longer exist. IT DOES WITHOUT FAIL decrease the value that any lender will loan on and IS without fail going to be used by any appraiser when our County's folks are trying to sell or refinance their homes. We can't have it both ways. Values ARE less no matter what fuzzy math you want to use in the "few past years". They WERE over inflated by bad sales/loans. It is also very important that everyone understand as well, that any licensed appraiser will tell you that in giving value to a property he HAS TO USE recent foreclosure "auctioned" sales in his valuation if he can't FIND #3 or #4 arms length transactions of recent sales within a reasonable distance. No disrespect Mr. Kovack but I think this, in and of itself is a double standard to increase values/taxes in a plummeting market. It isn't that values are plummeting WRONGFULLY but correctly in most cases. Homes in Medina at 500k-700k??? Please. It was falsely inflated period caused by falsely giving of bad loans period. You are going to have to come up with a good answer and reasonable valuation because from where I am sitting??? I am getting appraised values of 1/2 in some areas to those of 1-2 yrs. ago and your tax value is far over valued as well to the appraised value and yes...they will bring you the appraisals to show to you. These folks cannot refinance, sell or other wise ever move out without "turning in their keys" and even EXCELLENT/GOOD quality credit folks are having to "turn in the keys". THEY GET RE-LOCATED OR DIVORCED AND THEY OWE 2X THE VALUE/ What do you think they are suppose to do?
Happy Holidays and again, no dis-respect at all but this is a nightmare for ALL of us. I just think you are going to have to change the last 25-30 yrs. rule because the last 8 yrs. were bogus. We have "bubble boy" to thank for this.
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