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Graph compares real estate transactions for Southsider neighborhoods
This time last year, we reported that, finally, there was good news in the local real estate market – specifically, that the number of houses sold during the first half of 2012 had increased over the same six-month period in 2011. One year later, that highly encouraging trend continues. We ended 2012 on a very positive note: 17 percent more homes were sold in 2012 than 2011. Positive growth in the housing market from one year to the next had not happened in Fayette County since 2005.
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Click on the image to see a graph of real estate transactions for Chevy Chaser neighborhoods
We have good reason to be optimistic about the future, as this trend continues to the present day. In fact, the number of homes sold in Fayette County has increased over the previous year, in every single month of 2012 and 2013 except December.
Prior to 2012, slowing sales, rather than declining values, had been the most significant symptom of the weakened economy locally. Lexington did not see across-the-board declines in property values reported by the national media as experienced in Florida, Nevada, and other areas that previously experienced enormous increases in property values prior to the recession. Therefore, neighborhood re-assessments due to property value increases have been reduced to as few as 10 neighborhoods over the past five years.
In spite of the lack of reassessments, the annual property tax roll in Fayette County has never declined. In fact, it has grown at a very modest rate of slightly more than 1 percent per year. This growth is attributable to sales, property improvements and the use of technologies implemented in the PVA office that have aided in the discovery of improvements not previously listed on the tax rolls. For 2013, the overall real property tax roll is $23 billion.
The accompanying chart is a snapshot that compares home sales in individual neighborhoods from 2009 through 2012. Readers are cautioned against drawing conclusions about overall property values in specific neighborhoods where the number of sales in each area represent very small sample sizes, and therefore may be misleading. For example, one or two sales in which a homeowner realizes an unusually high capital gain or loss would cause anomalies in such a small sample, making the percentage of change misleading at best.
The transactions represented in the data are single-family residential property sales that the PVA office has determined to be arms-length transactions, or the sale of property from a willing seller to a willing buyer given a reasonable time on the market. The data does not include transactions involving transfers of property between family members, foreclosures, refinancing records, or other atypical sales; nor does it include sales of commercial, condominium, townhouse, duplex and multi-family dwellings.
The Property Valuation Administrator (PVA) is required by statute to inspect each parcel of real property in the county once every four years. Additionally, the PVA is required to evaluate property assessments annually, and adjust individual assessments when sale prices in their respective jurisdictions deviate by more than 10 percent from current assessments. Typically, but not always, reassessments coincide with the physical inspections every four years. The chart also indicates (denoted with an asterisk) which neighborhoods are up for inspection and possible reassessment during the upcoming tax year.
The schedule for inspections county wide follow what is referred to as the quadrennial plan, or “quad.” This year’s quad includes all condominiums, townhouses and rural parcels under 10 acres, as well as 51 of Fayette County’s 300-plus residential neighborhoods. A map and description of the quad can be found at www.FayettePVA.com.
An assessor from the Fayette County PVA Office will visit each property, take a new photograph and look for changes since the previous inspection. PVA staff do not access the inside of homes but by law may enter backyards to inspect additions or improvements. These inspections are a vital component to the reassessment process.
If a homeowner does not agree with their property assessment, they have the right and are encouraged to contact the PVA office. The Fayette County PVA office is currently working on assessments for 2014. If the assessment of a property changes for 2014, the property owner will receive a notice by mail in mid-April. Property owners may conference with the PVA and discuss their assessments beginning on the first Monday in May and continuing for 13 consecutive days. If the property owner remains unsatisfied with the assessed value after the conference, they are encouraged to appeal to the Local Board of Tax Appeals.
David O’Neill is the Fayette County Property Valuation Administrator. All of the information from the accompanying chart originated from the Fayette County Property Valuation Administrator’s database. PVA data and information on challenging your property assessments and the work of the PVA are accessible at www.FayettePVA.com.