Home values top $1 billion in this Greene County community

Greene County property owners whose land lost value in the Great Recession are being notified by the county auditor’s office now of increases following new revaluations.

On average, residential property values across the county are up by 5 percent, a marked increase from the reappraisals that occurred in 2014, when there was an overall drop in values of 4 percent, according to Greene County Auditor David Graham.

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The new appraisals reflect a pattern evident in the recent revaluations of properties in Montgomery County, where home values have rebounded since the subprime mortgage crisis and onset of the Great Recession in 2008.

“It’s reflected in the numbers that we’re seeing across the board. Prices are up. Volume is up,” said Bob Morrison, president-elect of the Dayton Area Board of Realtors.

RELATED: Montgomery County properties rebound from historic drop

Morrison said the national trend indicates existing home sales are outpacing new home sales.

“New home construction is up, but I don’t know that it’s returned to the levels that we were at before,” he said.

Greene County communities that saw the biggest increases in values include Beavercreek Twp., an 11 percent increase; Cedarville at 10 percent; Yellow Springs at 9.3 percent; and Bellbrook at 9 percent, according to the auditor’s office.

Beavercreek’s increase of 7 percent in residential home values meant the city eclipsed the $1 billion mark in total value.

RELATED: How much have property values changed in Montgomery County?

Mark Schlagheck, Bellbrook’s city manager and finance director, said there’s a clear difference in today’s housing market when compared to a few years ago.

“There are more buyers now,” Schlagheck said. “If you have a home you want to sell and it’s in decent shape, there’s a buyer out there willing to purchase it. And when a home (in Bellbrook) goes on the market to sell, it sells pretty quickly and it has a good return on it.”

The city of Xenia saw a 7.5 percent increase in overall residential home valuations. Xenia spokesman Lee Warren said the city is seeing a “significant uptick in new residential home starts” and home improvements.

“We’re excited because it’s yet another solid indicator that people are looking to Xenia as a safe and friendly community to live in and raise their families,” Warren said.

At negative .07 percent, Jamestown is the only Greene County community that saw an overall drop in values.

The updated numbers are based on sales since the last full reappraisals in 2014, according to Graham.

Graham said the letters that are going in the mail next week will notify homeowners that this is the three-year “mass appraisals,” or triennial update, which the state requires counties to do to maintain accurate property tax rates.

Mass appraisals are differently than the full reappraisals that occur every six years, in part because mass appraisals are based on sales data and not on the actual condition of a property.

“A triennial update is a review of valid sales over the period of three years, since the last reappraisal,” Graham said. “The sales data is looked at for trends in the market and values are equalized based on sales factors specific to each neighborhood area … changes in value will vary between neighborhood areas.”

There are 73,000 parcels of property that were evaluated, and residents will have an opportunity to contest the findings if they deem the revaluations to be incorrect.

More detailed information on the new tentative values can be found on the auditor’s website.

If you believe your property’s revaluation is incorrect, you can call to talk to the auditor’s office during an “informal review period” until Oct. 13, after which the new property values will be finalized for the 2018 tax bills.

To talk to a representative from the auditor’s office, call (937) 562-5621.


Key highlights

Beavercreek: Had a 7 percent increase in residential home values and eclipsed $1 billion mark.

Beavercreek Twp.: With about an 11 percent in home values, recorded county's largest increase.

Jamestown: Overall values dropped by about $21,000 and only community with a decline.

Xenia: Saw a 7.5 percent increase in home values, jumping to a total of $288 million from $268 million.

Fairborn: With a 2.8 increase in home valuations, the smallest increase in county.

SOURCE: Greene County Auditor’s Office

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