How do trends in real estate prices affect assessments?
Normally, a property ‘ s assessment is based on the sales activity within its neighborhood. The assessed value of a particular property depends on the sales of other houses in the nearby area. Assessments are not based on larger area sales activity, including county-wide or ZIP code area trends which are sometimes reported in the press. For the January 1, 2008 assessment, residential assessments were based primarily on neighborhood sales occurring from July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007, and further refined using sales occurring in the summer and fall of 2007.
