Assessments buck trend in Portsmouth, decrease

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.

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 !

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

The housing mess got started when the city assessors raised the tax rate to bring in more taxes. It had nothing to do with market value, the valuation therefore increased to justify the increased tax. It's all a numbers game. There isn't a property anywhere that goes up in actual value twenty percent a year! Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk, all of them did exactly the same thing! The City assessor wants you to believe that the properties were undervalued but thats just a way to pull the wool over your eyes. Now because the market is in the toilet they Can't increase the taxes anymore.

My property tax assessment in Norfolk last year went up over 10%. That occcurred at about the same time I dropped the price of my home (that has been on the market nearly 2 years) by 25%.

Yes, to a sales price BELOW the assessment. The house has still not sold and I continue to pay taxes based upon an assessment that is MORE than the house is listed for, and quite obviously not the value of, as it is not selling.

While the government is FAR from having clean hands, the biggest culprit the past 15 years has been corporate greed and inflation; creating a system where the rich get richer but they are tighthanded when it comes to trickling that money down. Think about it: 20 years ago you could afford a house in most places in America working at mostly white collar jobs. Now a lot of places you can't even afford a house working in good paying jobs that require college degrees! Those white collar salaries have barely budged but inflation has run rapid! Most of that is due to companies concerned only with profits and the top executives getting paid. Even in the housing mess, the banking industry got so caught up in easy money that they let greed override common sense! The homeowners are just as guilty but at least they never had anything!

City leaders all over Hampton roads and other states and localities wonder why we are in a recession. You've taken all our money. How on earth does anyone absorb the kinds of increases we have had the last five years? The year after I bought my house, my taxes went up $89.00 per month. Utilities, my elec, even though the thermostat is set at 68, and I feel like we walk around in the dark all the time are up $70.00 a month over last winter. And I have a geo thermal system! Water, gas everything. I can't wait to see Chesapeake's assessments. There are five vacant houses in my neighborhood. About a dozen for sale. Nothing moving,they'll still take and take and take. They don't know enough to spend conservatively when the money's flowing in. Anyone whose ever been down to the Ches. City Hall knows what a waste our City govt. Spend a day sitting in traffic court. What a laugh that is. Hauling people before a judge for a tail light that was out. Give me a break!!!

"Don't Drop the House Values, we need every cent of taxes to pay for more Round-Abouts"

The city is greedy once they get it, they will never let it go, look at gas prices barrel of oil went up gas went up now barrel of oil is less than it was before 2003 and gas is still going up, when can we have an alernative to BIG OIL, the working class are still being robbed by leaders that cannot seam to understand that we are hurting by EXCESSIVE TAXES, fuel and huge Government waste and corruption. Why can't our city, state and fed learn to live on less each year like the rest of us. ???
Why cant we pay their saleries based on their performance of representing the people that voted them in ???
Let the majority of people vote on where ALL tax dollars get spent. ???
Lets find all the government workers that are not paying their fair share or are hiring illigals and not paying their tax and give them the boot after taking away ALL benefits for defrauding the American People. ???

-.34% seems PIKERLY

in view of the marketplace.

search for portsmouth, and the average percentage change for the city over the last year was -3%. Why only a -.34% decrease?