King County Assessor Lloyd Hara is on the road again talking about property values and economic conditions past, present and future.
Since taking office in November 2009 he has made more than 300 presentations to the public explaining and discussing the effects of the Great Recession on the property values around King County.
Hara said one of the most common questions he faces is why are property values falling while property taxes are rising.
The assessor said his answer is to ask the people if they voted for a library or school measures. Those or similar tax measures are often the reasons for the tax increases despite the fall in property values.
Hara said he expects the overall value of property to continue to drop in the coming year.
He pointed out one of the problems is a lack of new construction and Hara stated, “I don’t see it happening this year. In general, there is not a lot of construction.”
According to the assessor, home values in Kent are down 5.4 percent.
The 2010 assessment of an average home in Kent was $259,000 and in 2011 the value dropped to $245,200.
Kent values are similar to south King County, with values dropping since the beginning of the Great Recession. Hara noted the closer a property is to downtown Seattle the better the values have held.
Surrounding communities, like Kent, have taken a hit in property values.
Covington is down 3.8 percent from $253,200 in 2010 for the average home to $243,500. Maple Valley values fell 3.1 percent from $294,000 to $285,300.
Kent’s value fell the most of the three.
Hara said he believes, “things are starting to come back, but unemployment is still high.”
One of the positives for the region according to the assessor is Boeing’s plans to increase employment.
“When that happens, that will be a positive,” Hara said. “And Microsoft and Amazon are still hiring. Another element is to see retail stores start to pick up.”
The assessor said he expects the recovery to be slow until employment increases.
“When we see that happen other sectors will cause the overall economy to pick up,” he said.
The assessor said one of his concerns is the number of short sales and foreclosures in the home real estate market. A short sale is when real estate is sold for less than what is owed on the property.
Hara said the numbers from the beginning of the Great Recession tell the tale of the county. In 2007, the median price of a home was above $250,000 and in 2008 it rose to $281,000 and $312,000 in 2009. The crash came in 2010 with average home prices dropped to $245,000 and to $231,000 in 2011.
Commercial property followed a different graph, rising 3.67 percent in 2008, 9.66 percent in 2009, but rising only .02 percent in 2010.
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