When will Tarrant’s property appraisals stop increasing? Probably not anytime soon
Tarrant County residents have started to receive notices that their residential property values went up.
The average market value of residential properties is expected to increase 6% or 7% said Jeff Law, the chief appraiser for the Tarrant Appraisal District. Values have increased 74% in Fort Worth since 2011, when the average value of a home was $120,000.
A nationwide housing shortage has pushed home prices to record highs. The median price in Dallas-Fort Worth increased 13.5% to $310,000 in the first quarter, according to the Texas Realtors.
The Tarrant Appraisal District must raise property values as the real estate market rises.
“Property owners find it hard to understand how property values can be up as much as they are,” Law said. “TAD is required by law to stay up with current real estate trends.”
North Texas prices are increasing because the supply of homes can’t keep up with the population increase, said Sriram Villupuram, an associate professor of real estate at UT Arlington. On average, Villupuram said, about 200 people are moving into the Metroplex a day. Over the last decade, Fort Worth was the fastest growing big city in the nation.
Law said it appears the real estate market won’t slow soon as supply remains low and demand continues to grow.
Vicki Oxner’s Arlington home cost $95,000 when she bought it in 1986. It’s now valued at $211,000 with most of the increase happening since 2013, she said. Oxner has a homestead exemption and an over 65 exemption, which help keep her taxes low, but she is looking to downsize.
But even that is not a feasible option because homes smaller than hers are selling for more than $200,000.
The notices are not bills. Cities, counties, school districts and other taxing entities will use the values to set tax rates later this year. Property owners have until May 17 to protest values.
Even if your market value soared, the appraised value for tax purposes will be capped at a 10% increase if you have a homestead exemption.
Also, taxing entities other than school districts cannot increase property tax revenue by more than 3.5% without voter approval under a law passed in 2019.
Protests can be filed on Tarrant County’s Appraisal District’s website, by dropping off a copy of the protest outside the appraisal district’s building at 2500 Handley-Ederville or by mailing it to TARB, P.O. Box 185519, Fort Worth, Texas 76181.
