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NAHB Works With Census on Property Tax Data

For prospective home buyers, property taxes can make it more difficult to qualify for a mortgage, because lenders typically require the costs of the mortgage payment plus property taxes and insurance to stay under a certain percentage of the buyer’s income.

At NAHB’s request, for the 2000 Census the Census Bureau included aggregate property taxes paid by single-family home owners on its summary data files. Combined with the aggregate value of the specified homes reported by the Census, this enabled NAHB analysts to compute an average effective property tax rate down to county subdivisions with roughly 1,5000 to 8,000 residents. Detailed results were published in the December issue of NAHB's Housing Economics.

Among the findings were:

• Between 1990 and 2000, average home values increased by the greatest percentage in Oregon, the state that makes the most comprehensive use of urban growth boundaries. The state’s average home values surged by 128.9% during that decade, compared to an average increase of 43.4% across the U.S. Property taxes in the state continued to escalate despite a 1990 cap on property tax rates. This led to Measure 47, which froze property tax payments at their 1995 levels, irrespective of subsequent changes in property values.
• In 1990, the five states with the highest effective tax rates were Wisconsin, Michigan, South Dakota, Oregon and Nebraska. All experienced an increase in average home values of more than 80% during that period.
• In 2000, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, New York and Vermont had the highest tax rates. All experienced very small increases in average home values over the previous decade; the values increased less than 21% cumulatively.
• Onondaga County, NY — where Syracuse is located — was the county with the highest effective average property tax rate in 2000. Its tax rate was $27.66 per $1,000 of value.
• The county with the lowest property tax rate was Assumption Parish in non-metropolitan Louisiana, where the assessment was $1.21 per $1,000.

For further information, e-mail Paul Emrath or call him at 800-368-5242 x8449.

For information on NAHB's monthly Housing Economics publication, click here.

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