Assessments in Suffolk to decline about 4 percent

SUFFOLK

Homeowners can expect to see their real estate assessments go down this year by about 4 percent, the City Council was told Monday.

As in most other localities, the value of homes declined, city assessor Sid Daughtrey reported, from an average price of $268,800 in 2006 to $244,200 last year. Daughtrey said the numbers represent a 2.5 percent decrease in total taxable value of what has been often referred to as a "fast-growing" city.

"There's not much of a market for the $1 million homes anymore," he said.

The assessments should be mailed on Friday, Daughtrey said.

Suffolk had more than 4,000 real estate transactions in 2005, the assessor said, and only 1,926 transactions last year. What appeared most surprising to council members were the 315 foreclosures in 2009, up from only 45 in 2005.

"Foreclosures? Why?" said Councilman Charles Brown.

"Loss of jobs," said Mayor Linda Johnson, a professional in the real estate field. "During the boom years, people bought more house than they needed or could afford."

"The biggest thing that led to foreclosures is well beyond the council's reach," Daughtrey told the council. "From the real estate standpoint of view, we're in the same ballpark as Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.

"I don't think we've been hit quite as hard. The boom wasn't as big in Suffolk. The bust won't be, either."

Johnson said that 315 foreclosures wasn't a lot, compared with what other Hampton Roads cities have experienced.

Now, Daughtrey said, property owners will begin looking for other ways to save money. There's tax relief for the elderly, a program that has increased substantially for the past couple of years. Property owners can also look into the discounts offered for rehabilitated structures and the land-use taxation program, which has to do mostly with agricultural areas.

If they're still unhappy, they can appeal the assessment process, Daughtrey said.

Linda McNatt, (757) 222-5561, linda.mcnatt@pilotonline.com