by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Florida has taken a “double whammy” this year when it comes to real estate. When voters approved Amendment 1 to the state constitution, billions of dollars worth of property value was taken off the tax rolls when the Homestead exemption doubled to $50,000. Then the entire country’s real estate market went into a tailspin, first from an excessive amount of inventory compared to demand, then the crisis on Wall Street and the credit crunch hit.
And we haven’t seen the end of it, at least that’s the opinion of Duval County Property Appraiser Jim Overton.
Based on data collected by his office since 1999, years of high single and double-digit increases in both market value and taxable value of the county’s real estate came to an end with the 2008 tax rolls. In 2007, taxable value increased 18.38 percent over the 2006 value, but last year’s increase compared to the 2007 taxable value was an anemic .21 percent.
Overton said home sales in Duval County are down more than 20 percent and with foreclosures and other distress sales becoming a nearly daily event, the market value of real estate and the accompanying taxable value is sure to decrease as the trend continues.
Overton also said the Florida Department of Revenue is expected to institute a change in policy that will further decrease the market value. When financial institutions liquidate real estate, property loses value and property values are based on comparable transactions. Over a period of time as more previously foreclosed property is resold, lower sale prices will lead to lower property values.
“It looks like the 2009 tax roll will use some foreclosure sales to calculate property values. Gross property value will probably be down 8-10 percent,” said Overton.
Overton called it part of, “The Legislature’s continuing to restrict local government’s ability to raise money. We have another hit on the horizon.”
Predicting the future, he said he thinks 2009 will be worse for real estate than 2008 and 2010 will be worse than ‘09, but then the market should stabilize and get back on a more even keel.
“But we won’t see again in our lifetimes a real estate (price) run-up like we had from 2004-2006,” added Overton.
All that being said, Overton pointed out he’s confident Duval County will weather the expected fallout from real estate values better than other areas of Florida. The county is not “overbuilt” especially when it comes to condominium inventory and there are other factors that he thinks well-position North Florida’s real estate markets when it comes to property tax revenue that’s needed to run municipal government and provide essential services.
“We have a good mix of real estate in Duval County,” he said. “We have lots of waterfront and oceanfront property that will hold its value well compared to other types of property. We also have very good, older, stable neighborhoods like Ortega and Avondale and San Marco. Those too tend to hold their value.
“The port will drive development in the Northside and the military isn’t going anywhere. The Duval County real estate market just isn’t as volatile as others in Florida.”
Overton is also president of the Florida Association of Property Appraisers (FAPA). He said he and his fellow locally-elected appraisers are taking their message to lawmakers in Tallahassee.
“In the last two sessions, the Legislature has changed virtually everything about property taxes,” he said. “It’s intuitive that it’s not good for property assessments to go up as values go down. We’re asking them to cool it for at least a year. No new property tax changes.”
Duval County real estate taxable value
2008 Duval County Amendment 1 Impact
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