by Merri Ann Simonson

https://www.sanjuanislandslifestyle.com/

All of us island property owners will be receiving our tax assessment notices from the County shortly. As real estate agents we will be fielding many questions about the statements and new assessments. As you may recall, the State has mandated that our Assessor’s office convert to an annual assessment update cycle. The current values are for a one-year period only and will be adjusted next year. Areas of properties are physically inspected every 6th year on a rotating basis. The current process is stable, refined and is an accurate system.

For the last 20 years, the majority of the properties have sold above their tax assessments the with the exception of 2008-2013 which was the recession.

For example, during the recession, properties were selling at or below the assessor’s values. However, back in 2006, many of the same type properties sold in an average range of 125%-170% over their tax assessments. These average percentages varied based on the type of property but generally that was the trend. Since 2014, due to market recovery, most homes are again selling above their tax assessment.

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