Changes in Home Values Due to Foreclosure

Property evaluators were advised by State Department of Revenue to not pay attention to foreclosures for the sake of the buyers and the sellers.

Sales in the open market indicate home values, but only apply when foreclosures are rare. Currently, foreclosures are a big issue due to the fact that the number of homes being repossessed is increasing.

According to Pam Dubov, property evaluator in Pinella County, said that earnings from selling foreclosed properties seem just like any other type of business out there. Dubov feels like it is going to be a trend for now.

Warren Weathers, Chief Deputy in Hillsborough County, stated that Dubov may be correct and the office will go ahead and measure the effect it may have of sales in foreclosures in terms of values.

Evaluators across the state will meet in St. Petersburg next week. Dubov has plans of bringing up the issue.

Dubov and Weathers agreed that people located in places with high foreclosure rates will find their tax property bills to drop by next year. This is in the assumption that governments will not increase the rates of taxes.

Wells, a property evaluator, stated that he advised his staff to think carefully about foreclosures when making the tax roll.

Jim Overton, property evaluator in Duval County and Florida Association of Property Appraisers President, said that he did not know what Wells did, but was not surprised either when other people are willing to do it as well. The matter was brought up among other evaluators and will be brought up by Overton’s association in months to come.

Alvin Mazourek, property evaluator in Hernando County, was also considering how to unify damaged sales to home values next year. Tax problems may have decreased a little, but it is still up to property evaluator if they will include sales of foreclosures in their analysis. Peter K. Murphy, a consultant in Ybor City, stated that banks did sell foreclosed properties with 60 percent value in the market last month.