Assessments buck trend in Portsmouth, decrease

Posted to: News Portsmouth
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NEIGHBORHOOD	% Increase
1 - Olde Towne	0.01
2 - Downtown Corridor	0.00
3 - Northside (Parkview)	-2.92
4 - Southside	0.00
5 - Prentis Park & Brighton	0.00
6 - Pinners Point	-0.31
7 - Port Norfolk	-7.55
8 - Mt Hermon	0.00
9 - River Park	0.00
10 - Lynn Shores	-0.04
11 - Glenshellah	0.00
12 - Waterview	0.20
13 - Westhaven	0.02
14 - Simonsdale	0.00
15 - Park Manor	0.00
16 - Mayflower Park	0.00
17 - Elizabeth Manor	-0.09
18 - Hodges Manor	0.01
19 - New Port	0.04
20 - Cavalier Manor	-1.06
21 - Highlands	0.00
22 - Truxton	0.00
23 - Cradock	0.00
24 - Shea Terrace/West Park View	-1.89
25 - Merrifields-Edgefield	0.00
26 - Peachtree	0.00
27 - Churchland West	0.06
28 - Churchland	-0.10
29 - Southampton	0.00
30 - Belvdr-Siesta Gdns-Grnf	-0.01
31 - Hunters Point	0.00
32 - West Norfolk	0.00
33 - Hatton Point	-0.31
34 - Sterling Point, Green Acres	-1.90
35 - Rivershores	0.00
36 - Brandon, Edgefield Townhs	-0.01
37 - Long Point- Bishops Green	-0.03
38 - Nottingham, Westmoreland	0.29
39 - Lake Shores	0.00
40 - Sterling Cove	0.00
41 - River Pointe	-0.23
42 - Castle Heights, Cavalier Forest	0.00
43 - N Siesta Gardens, Hosier Oaks	-0.03
44 - Crystal Lake	0.00
45 - Westbury	-0.17
46 - Hattonsville	0.00
47 - Estates of River Pointe	-0.18
48 - Villas of River Pointe	0.68
49 - Gateway	0.00


COMMERCIAL DISTRICTS	% Increase
1- Olde Towne, Downtown	-0.15
2- Downtown Corridor	0.07
3- I-264 South	0.08
4- Airline Corridor	-0.04
5 - Westhaven- W. Ports. Blvd Corridor	0.45
6- Port Norfolk, MidTown	0.01
7 - Churchland	0.00


TOTAL FOR CITY	-0.36

By Jen McCaffery
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 15, 2009

PORTSMOUTH

Most homeowners and business owners in Portsmouth will join their neighbors in nearby cities in not seeing an increase in their property values this year.

In fact, Portsmouth's average assessment for both residential and commercial properties this year is a slight decrease: .36 percent, City Assessor Alethia Bryce said. Out of 34,117 parcels, a little more than 31,000 will see no difference, she said.

"It looked like they needed to stay the same, because there's just not a lot going on out there," Bryce said.

This year's residential property values buck a five-year trend for Portsmouth, which has experienced on average a 14.2 percent assessment increase every year since 2004.

Councilman Steve Heretick said this year's property values show that the city's assessor has been doing her job well. He also said that it demonstrates that city property, which he said was significantly under-assessed for a long time, is now properly valued.

"The stability reflects that, yeah, we are exactly where we should be," Heretick said. Port Norfolk experienced the greatest change in the city, with a decrease of 7.6 percent for residences, according to data Bryce provided.

Mark DiVenuti, president of the Port Norfolk Civic League, said his neighborhood has played catch-up over the past few years because it was under-assessed for so long. In the current market, he said, the neighborhood is averaging more than 40 listings a month and property owners are renting out residences just to keep up mortgage payments.

He said he isn't happy to see assessments decrease because he considers his home an investment.

The Villas at River Pointe had the largest rise in assessments in the city, with an increase of .68 percent.

Bryce's office assessed the properties as of Jan. 1 and any new values will go into effect July 1.

Overall, the city's tax base increased to $7.6 billion from $7.4 billion, which Bryce attributed to new construction. The city collects real estate tax revenue on its assessments to pay for local government services. Portsmouth's tax rate is currently $1.21 per $100 of assessed value.

In Virginia Beach, Assessor Jerry Banagan said preliminary figures indicate that the tax base, or total assessments, has decreased by 2.3 percent. It is the first time since Banagan started working as the city's assessor in 1983 that he has seen a decline in the Beach's property tax base, he said.

Banagan expects that 79 percent of the nearly 109,807 residences in Virginia Beach will see their assessments decrease. However, he said commercial assessments fared better, but he would not release those figures. He is scheduled to give his formal report to the City Council on Feb. 24.

Norfolk real estate Assessor Deborah Bunn also is expecting residential assessments to be flat at best and commercial properties to experience a modest increase.

Chesapeake Assessor William Rice is expected to present assessment information to the City Council on Tuesday.

Suffolk Assessor Sid Daughtrey said his office likely won't be finished with assessments until the end of March.

Pilot writers Deirdre Fernandes, Harry Minium and Mike Saewitz contributed to this report.

Jen McCaffery, (757) 446-2627, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com

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I guess we will be screwed for another year or 2

Submitted by henry on Thu, 03/19/2009 at 8:43 am.

I'm guessing the accessor can't adjust until some homes actually sell. But realistically homes in Portsmouth have lost about a 1/3 of their accessed value. There are homes accessed at $560k that are asking $360K and they are still not selling. Once these homes finally crash I can't wait to see how these sales affect her figures.

Portsmouth Bucks Trend (continued)

Submitted by John Locke on Thu, 02/19/2009 at 10:07 pm.

Referring to this year's assessments, Councilman Steve Heretick says "assessments are exactly where we should be",adding that"the assessor is doing her job well". I'm guessing with an $8.5 million hole in the city's budget, not lowering assessments is, in his view, a job well done. GIVE ME A BREAK !

Portsmouth Assessments Buck Trend, WHAT!!!!!!!

Submitted by John Locke on Thu, 02/19/2009 at 9:40 am.

According to the Pilot article, 79 percent of homeowners in Va. Beach will see a reduction in their assessment this year. Then Chesapeake reports that for the first time in the city's history the average real estate assessment will drop. One third of assessments will not change, while most others will decrease. The Portsmouth assessor reported that 90 percent of assessments will not change. Guess property owners are supposed to be elated with that. Assessor,Alethia Bryce,says "it looked like assessments needed to stay the same, because there's not a lot going on out there". Actually, there IS a lot going on out there. Drive through any neighborhood in the city (not just Port Norfolk which gets a 7.6% reduction ), and you see properties that have been for sale for months on end. Talk to hopeful sellers who continually reduce prices. Notice the houses for rent because they could't be sold. Talk to people trying to refinance and learn that their property appraises below city assessment. Referring to the assessments, Portsmouth Councilman Steve Heretick says "assessments are exactly where they should be", adding "that the assessor is doing her job well". I'm guessing with an $8.5 milli

Go Down More

Submitted by usv on Wed, 02/18/2009 at 1:24 pm.

We have a LOT farther to decrease, Portsmouth. After the massive increases in recent years, it's time to give us back our money. We can clearly see that you're not doing much except blowing it.

Assessor's office is staffed by morons.

Submitted by jesse scout on Tue, 02/17/2009 at 12:03 pm.

How did they determine whose assessment went down? Use a dart thrown at a map? By not reducing everyone's assessment they are saying that the home market did not go down in the past year. And don't forget, the rate has not been set yet. Portsmouth is cutting its own throat. People in the know do not want to move to Portsmouth because of its reputation for high taxes and stupid government. This is being translated into homes that will not sell so are being rented. Some of the better neighborhoods now have an increasing number of rental properties. Don't believe it? Just take a ride through Green Acres. Riding down one street this weekend I spotted a car in one yard up on jacks, torn screens and a side porch loaded with furniture. This used to be a neat, well kept neighborhood. Ghetto here we come. I guess you can tell from the tone of this post that my 60 year old house was one whose assessment stayed the same while houses on all sides assessments were lowered. I can’t wait until the city sets the tax rate.

wow a .3 per cent decrease

Submitted by ring442 on Sun, 02/15/2009 at 7:28 pm.

I don't claim to have won a Nobel Prize in Math but since my house was assessed at 254,000 and sold for 189,900 in October that seems a tad bit more than 1/3 of one per cent. I guess if you send out notices leaving the assessments the same, the people of Portsmouth are so happy that they didn't go up they don't realize they are still getting ripped off. Most real estate adds are saying 40 to 65 thousand below assessed value. Can someone explain how that is 1/3 % on houses that are assessed for 250,000.

Go ahead

Submitted by EvanJ on Sun, 02/15/2009 at 1:01 pm.

I would suggest that every watchdog group assess what the assessors will be reporting. You can bet they will be under heavy pressure from city managers and council to fudge the figures.

I don't know about Portsmouth, but all the Va Beach data is available on www.vbgov.com. Just search for "assessment". You can be your own watchdog group.

Completed sales are public record so anyone can see what's selling in their neighborhood and for how much. There's also a bunch of web sites that can estimate replacement cost of your house based on current labor and material prices. That's also used in the assessment. I believe business properties also look at the revenue from the location, since prime locations that bring in business are worth more.

Assessors!

Submitted by rayr41591 on Sun, 02/15/2009 at 11:04 am.

I would suggest that every watchdog group assess what the assessors will be reporting. You can bet they will be under heavy pressure from city managers and council to fudge the figures.

Follows the data

Submitted by EvanJ on Sun, 02/15/2009 at 10:41 am.

That follows the sale price data. The regional numbers where 0%-5% decrease in prices. I know people like conspiracies and name calling, but this stuff is based on real life sales data.

Still ripping people off legally!

Submitted by Patriot on Sun, 02/15/2009 at 10:30 am.

People cannot sell homes for what they owe if they bought 3 to 4 years ago yet the drop in tax is some cases has not dropped 10% of the percentage the selling prices have dropped. How quick the Cities were to raise assessments when things were ludicrous but now things are becoming semi realistic again they will drag their greedy money grubbing feet!