Houston —The Harris Central Appraisal District has mailed the 2025 property value notices to many residential, commercial and industrial property owners.
“The Harris County housing market maintained steady growth with moderate price increases in 2024,” said Roland Altinger, chief appraiser. “While a large percentage of homes in Harris County are increasing in value this year, there is also a substantial percentage decreasing in value.”
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 more than 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 website 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 maintained steady growth with moderate price appreciation during 2024. The sales volume for single family residential properties was 85,163 homes in 2024, which is a 1.3 percent increase from the 84,038 homes sold in 2023, according to the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR).
While the county has hovered below a 4-month supply of homes for the past 6 years, which indicates a seller’s market, the inventory of available homes has risen to 4 months supply of homes in December 2024, according to HAR, up from 3.2 months of homes in
January 2024. A 4-to-6-month inventory of homes is considered a balanced market. After two years of declining sales, the increase in home inventory was welcomed, but inflation, interest rates and mortgage rates will continue to impact the issues of housing prices and affordability.
Homes in the lower price ranges saw minimal value increases from about 1 – 5 percent.
Homes above $450,000 had value increases of roughly 7 – 12 percent for an average increase of 10 percent. Approximately 57 percent of homes in the county increased in value, 31 percent saw a decrease and 12 percent remained unchanged.
“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 rose slightly with an overall increase of about 2 percent from the noticed value in 2024. Noticed value increased $5 billion to $265 billion in 2025 from $260 billion in 2024, with the apartment and retail sectors of commercial property comprising half the value. Warehouses, office space, vacant land, medical and hotels make up the other half of the commercial value.
Approximately 60 percent of commercial properties increased in value, 12 percent decreased in value and 27 percent remained unchanged. Overall, the commercial property market continues to be strong.
The demand for apartment housing was strong throughout 2024, and occupancy and rental rates are only about 1 percent higher than last year. Values for apartment complexes increased only 0.8 percent from this same time last year and there is not as much new construction.
Retail rental rates increased about 2.5 percent and vacancy rates are at only about 5 percent with new construction remaining very strong. There was an oversupply of warehouse inventory last year, which has slowed new construction, however rental rates for warehouse space increased 2 percent year-over-year and vacancy rates remained steady. The office market continues to struggle due to residual effects of the pandemic with an almost 8 percent loss in value from last year, high vacancy rates and relatively flat rental rates.
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.
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 $902 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.