Scott Grossman, who chairs the board for the Denver Metro Association of Realtors, says the houses that are selling most quickly these days are in the "mid-range" — those priced between $250,000 and $500,000. That's certainly proven to be the case in one southwest metro neighborhood in unincorporated Jefferson County. In recent weeks, houses that were previously valued at between $250,000 and $300,000 sold for $100,000 or more above previous amounts. But the values are zooming in pretty much every price category right now.
Of course, increased property values also means higher property taxes — and that's never good news for homeowners. The Denver Department of Finance points out that assessors "are required to consider transactions of real property from the time period of July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2016, and trend these sales to the June 30th date." New property-valuation notices will be mailed to property owners on May 1, with property owners having the opportunity to dispute the digits through June 1. Final values will be established some time before December 10.
Continue to read property-value summaries from each of the seven metro Denver counties, complete with contact information. They confirm that virtually every home in the area has increased significantly in value — including yours.
Adams County.
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Adams County experienced significant increases in overall value reflecting the strong economic conditions across the country. Assessor Patsy Melonakis reported the Adams County reappraisal for 2017 included over 172,000 parcels showing increases in value of residential property 40 percent, commercial property 12 percent, agricultural property 10 percent, while seeing the largest increase in vacant land at 68 percent. Based on the market and the extreme growth in the county, an increase of 39 percent was realized over the prior year’s values on the same property types. The Assessor’s Office encourages property owners to review their Notice of Valuation online to make sure that the details of their property are listed correctly.
Adams County Assessor’s Office: 720-523-6038 or adcogov.org
Arapahoe County:
Assessor Marc Scott reported that in Arapahoe County, which sent 207,622 notices of valuation this year, the residential median increase was 26 percent and the commercial median increase was 22 percent. The areas within Arapahoe County with the largest gains in property value were Aurora, Sherida, and Englewood.
“In terms of residential properties, the greatest level of demand and highest percentage increases were found in the lower price tiers while the market for higher-value homes was softer, resulting in lower percentage increases. For commercial properties, some of the greatest increases were in the office market, and particularly the Class B buildings,” said Scott.
Arapahoe County Assessor’s Office: 303-795-4600
Boulder County:
Countywide, the Boulder County Assessor’s Office revalued 121,000 taxable real properties. The estimated value of residential property in Boulder County, which includes manufactured and single family homes, condominiums and townhomes, has increased 24 percent. Multi-family residential properties have increased 35 percent while commercial property has increased 23 percent countywide.
“Limited inventory, reduced numbers of entry-level properties, increased job opportunities and being a sought-after place to live has sustained the increase in values of all property types in Boulder County,” said Assessor Cynthia Braddock.
Boulder County Assessor’s Office: 303-441-3530 or boulderassessor.org
Denver County:
Denver’s Assessment Division revalued over 218,000 taxable properties citywide. The median projected value increase for single-unit residential properties is 25.9 percent in Denver. This includes single family homes, rowhomes and condos.
The median projected value increase for Denver’s commercial properties is 20 percent. These increases in commercial valuation are similarly reflected in each of the major subclasses including offices, retail, warehouses and lodging. Multi-family residential property also reflects record-setting activity with a median increase of 45 percent.
“Property values across Denver reflect the steady desirability and growth of the city,” Assessor Keith Erffmeyer said. “Neighborhoods that had among the lower property values in 2015 are seeing the largest percentage increases in Denver, though each neighborhood has seen growth.”
City and County of Denver Assessor’s Office: 720-913-1311 or denvergov.org/assessor
Continue for property value reports for Douglas, Elbert and Jefferson counties.
Douglas County:
Assessor Lisa Frizell reported that the median single-family-detached property value is now $429,500, an increase of 17.25 percent from the 2015-2016 level of value. In 2016, Douglas County saw the completion of 2,100 new single-family detached housing units, constituting a 2.3 percent increase in inventory. While this new construction brought an increase of almost $90 million dollars in actual value, the reduction in the residential assessment rate equates the assessed-value contribution to that of 2016.
“Reflecting the excellent quality of life available in Douglas County, real estate values have continued to experience steady increases for all property classifications — along with near record-setting new construction. As with the 2015 reappraisal, our condominium and townhome housing saw the largest appreciation in value,” said Assessor Frizell. “These homes are in high demand in Douglas County and saw median increases of 28 and 23 percent, respectively.”
Douglas County Assessor’s Office: 303-660-7450
Elbert County:
Elbert County Assessor Billie Mills reported that as of June 30, 2016, the estimated market values in Elbert County had a median appreciation of 30 percent. The 30 percent increase is heavily influenced by a strong residential market that has been one of hottest in the Front Range area. The Elbert County Assessor’s Office re-appraised 13,000 parcels, utilizing 1,140 qualified market transactions from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2016. All sales have been trended (or adjusted for time) to June 30, 2016.
Elbert County Assessor’s Office: 303-621-3101
Jefferson County:
Assessor Ron Sandstrom reported that all residential property (single family, townhouse, condos and multi-family) increased at a medium value of 22.8 percent. These values varied by cities within the county from 18 percent in the unincorporated part of the county to 36 percent in Edgewater. Likewise, commercial property values varied in a similar fashion, from 11 percent to 27 percent.
Jefferson County Assessor’s Office: 303-271-8699
