By Jim Weiker, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – Franklin County homeowners should brace themselves.
Figures released Monday by County Auditor Clarence Mingo suggest that homeowners’ property values will rise at least 10 percent when the county reassesses property later this year, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
“There will be significant adjustments in some areas,” Mingo said. “We don’t want property owners to be surprised.”
According to Mingo’s office, the sales price of homes sold in the second half of 2016 was about 19 percent higher than the county’s estimated value of those homes.
The figure illustrates how dramatically the real-estate market has outpaced the county’s estimated values since the last reassessment in 2014.
“The real-estate market’s recovery has been strong and unhindered,” Mingo said.
The wide gap between the auditor’s estimated value and sales prices doesn’t mean property assessments will rise 19 percent; county reassessments are based on three years of sales, not just six months. Still, the most recent sales are weighted most heavily in county reassessments.
Mingo said most homeowners should expect a double-digit increase.
Mingo’s figures are consistent with other estimates of central Ohio home values, which have rebounded significantly from the crash.
Columbus Realtors figures show that the median sales price of a central Ohio home has risen 17.2 percent in the three years ending in November. In the same time period, Zillow estimates that the value of an average central Ohio home has risen 14.7 percent.