What factors might cause the assessment to be higher or lower than the sale price of a property?
A distressed sale, foreclosure, or auction of property is not considered a fair market transaction. Conditions that existed at the time of sale may have been corrected since the sale restoring the value. For example, a house that was sold with damage that has been repaired since the sale now has a market value higher than the sale price. A sale between relatives or related companies is not a fair market sale. The property may have been rezoned since the sale date. The new zoning may no longer allow the use planned by the purchaser at the time of sale. Or the property may have a zoning change that increases it value by allowing for additional uses such as commercial or industrial.
