Houston —The Harris Central Appraisal District has mailed property value notices to many residential, commercial and industrial property owners.
“This year we are seeing a return to the usual increases and decreases in property values instead of the extraordinary growth of the past two years,” said Roland Altinger, chief appraiser. “We are seeing a large number of residential and commercial properties in Harris County decreasing in value this year. Residential properties are still in high demand and have gone up an average of about 2.5 percent in value, and commercial property values increased an average of 8 percent.”
Altinger explained that the appraisal district is required by law to appraise all property at 100 percent of market value – which is the price the property would sell for – as of January 1.
“The appraisal district tries to come as close to market value as we can with the data we have,” Altinger said. “If the property owner does not think that value is correct, they should file an appeal and provide information in their protest meeting that could change the value.”
To meet the deadlines set out in the Texas Property Tax Code, the appraisal district must use mass appraisal techniques to appraise the 1.9 million parcels in Harris County, Altinger continued.
Specific information for residential and commercial property is below, and market area maps are available on the HCAD web site at www.hcad.org under “Appraisal” and then “Reappraisal.” Individual property values also are available at www.hcad.org .
Residential:
The Harris County housing market took a breather this year after several years in a row of rapid appreciation. Sales slowed in 2023 and prices rose slightly because of higher interest rates and mortgage rates, which then allowed home inventory to inch upwards.
The sales volume for single family residential properties was 83,854 homes in 2023, which is a 12 percent decrease from the 95,302 homes sold in 2022, according to the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR). The county has hovered below a 3-month supply of homes for the past 6 years, which indicates a seller’s market. A 4-to-6-month inventory of homes is considered a balanced market. The inventory of available homes has risen to 3.3 months of homes in January 2024 according to HAR, up from the 2.6 months of homes in January of 2023. While inventory is increasing, it is still low, which, along with the higher interest rates, will continue to impact the issues of housing prices and affordability.
Homes in the lower price ranges saw minimal value increases, and in some cases even saw small decreases. Homes above $450,000 had value increases of roughly 4 – 8 percent. However, 47 percent of homes in the county decreased in value, while only about 40 percent of all homes increased in value.
“Exemptions can provide significant relief for qualifying taxpayers by reducing taxable value and tax levies,” Altinger said.
Residence homestead exemptions are the most common type of exemption and apply to most owner-occupied homes in Texas. Property owners should check their account online to make sure that all exemptions they are entitled to are in place.
Commercial:
Commercial property values also began to stabilize after several years of increases. Approximately 52 percent of commercial properties increased in value and 20 percent decreased in value. Overall, the commercial property market continues to be strong.
Apartments are still doing well, but the pace has slowed with values for apartment complexes increasing only 2.1 percent. Because of the oversupply of apartment units, occupancy and rental rates are flat. There also is an oversupply of warehouse inventory, which is creating a slowing demand.
Office values increased 6.9 percent, while occupancy due to residual effects of the pandemic. Hotel/motel values increased 21.3 percent and the retail sector continued to perform well with values increasing 13.2 percent.
Property owners who receive their notices may begin the protest process immediately. The fastest and easiest way to file a protest is to use the district’s online iFile program at www.hcad.org/iFile-protest. If you use the owner’s portal, your owners account is automatically connected to your iFile number. The owner’s portal offers many advantages such as viewing your HCAD documents, adding or removing property accounts and receiving a settlement offer online. You can easily create an account in the owners portal, although, you will need the iFile number on the upper right and center of the value notice.
The chief appraiser has an 8-minute video explaining the value changes and the measures homeowners can take to reduce their tax burden on the main page of HCAD’s website: www.hcad.org . There is a link to the value change maps in the announcement bar.
About HCAD
The Harris Central Appraisal District is a political subdivision of the State of Texas established in 1980 for the purpose of discovering and appraising property for ad valorem tax purposes for each taxing unit within the boundaries of the district. The district has approximately 1.9 million parcels of property to assess each year with a total market value of approximately $895 billion. The appraisal district in Harris County is the largest in Texas, serving more than 500 taxing units, and one of the largest appraisal districts in the United States. For further information, visit www.hcad.org.