New, higher Wake County property values are out this week. What you need to know.
Home values across Wake County have shot up in the past four years, according to newly released results of the county’s 2024 revaluation.
Residential properties rose an average of 53% in tax value from the last revaluation in 2020. Commercial properties rose 45%.
“Obviously revaluations instill fear and anxiety in property owners,” said Marcus Kinrade, Wake County’s tax administrator. “They feel that property taxes may go up at the same rate that their value did. That’s simply not true. So I would encourage everyone when they receive the notice to take a breath, relax and read the information that we’ve sent.”
The Wake County Board of Commissioners got its first look at the 2024 revaluation results Tuesday. Notices of property value changes will start arriving in people’s mailboxes this week.
Counties are required to hold a revaluation at least every eight years and Wake County holds one every four years to better reflect market values, or how much a property could be sold for.
Will property taxes increase?
Higher property values don’t automatically mean higher property taxes. The county and its municipalities will set new property tax rates later this year.
Local governments must disclose the “revenue-neutral” tax rate, or rate that would generate the same amount of money with the new, higher values. Wake County created a calculator to help property owners see what their new tax bill would be if the county were to adopt the revenue-neutral tax rate.
As a rule of thumb, if a property’s value increased by over 41.5% and local governments keep their revenue-neutral rates, people will likely experience a property tax increase. If a property’s value increased under 41.5%, people could see a property tax decrease.
In 2020 the tax value of homes increased an average of 20% while commercial properties increased an average of 33%.
“I can’t say I was really surprised,” Commissioner Vice Chair Susan Evans said Tuesday. “I’ve been watching the real estate market fairly closely over the last few years. I actually moved in the past year. So I was very well aware of what was happening with pricing.”
Here’s the increase breakdown by municipality:
- Apex: 56%
- Cary: 51%
- Fuquay-Varina: 54%
- Garner: 56%
- Holly Springs: 58%
- Knightdale: 57%
- Morrisville: 45%
- Raleigh: 48%
- Rolesville: 51%
- Wake Forest: 51%
- Wendell: 65%
- Zebulon: 49%
- Unincorporated Wake County: 51%
- Wake County overall: 51%
“The most substantial increase we saw countywide was in Wendell, followed closely by Garner and Holly Springs, Kinrade said. “The areas of the slowest average growth were Morrisville and Raleigh. To a certain extent that is attributable to their large number of offices and hotels.”
Commercial value changes
Changes in value for commercial properties reflected their use. Mini storage properties saw a 113% overall increase while industrial properties saw an overall 79% increase. Apartments also saw an overall increase in value of 55%.
Office spaces saw an overall increase of 20%, one of the lowest of the commercial types, and hotels saw an overall increase of 22%.
“There has been some press lately about vacancy rates in office,” Kinrade said. “So, office lagged. And to a certain extent hotels and motels have been slow to recover from the pandemic.”
Restaurants saw an overall increase of 29% and retail spaces saw an overall increase of 33%.
Important dates:
- March 1 is the deadline for property owners to file an informal appeal
- May 15 is the deadline for property owners to file a formal appeal to the Board of Equalization and Review
- July 1 is the deadline that Wake County Commissioners and municipal leaders must pass a budget with a new property tax rate.
The appeal process
Given the significant value increases, Kinrade anticipates anywhere from 20,000 to 42,000 parcel appeals. There were 17,000 appeals four years ago.
There are two ways to appeal if property owners think their property was valued too high (or too low). Residents can submit an informal appeal starting now through March 1 that involves meeting with county tax staff. If they are satisfied with the outcome of the informal process they don’t have to take any other action.
Taxpayers can also submit a formal appeal between March 2 though May 15 to the Wake County Board of Equalization and Review.
Have a question?
People can contact the Wake County Tax Administration by calling 919-857-3800 or emailing revaluation@wake.gov.
Have a revaluation question you want The News & Observer to look at? Email reporter Anna Johnson at ajohnson@newsobserver.com.
This story was originally published January 16, 2024 at 11:09 AM.
