13% drop in Lucas Co. property values - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

The 13abc I-Team has learned that overall property values are going down in Lucas County and the drop is pretty big.  

Some values did go up but in all about 180,000 properties in the county saw their values go down.  Overall values are down 13% and that has several effects.

The good news for homeowners is that if all levies stay the same after Election Day, you will pay lower property taxes if your value went down.  The bad news is for places that depend on property taxes like schools.  They will see fewer dollars.

"My focus has solely been to make the properties fair and equitable.  I can't think about all the outcomes as a result of that," said Lucas County Auditor Lopez.

 Every 6 years the county does a physical inspection of properties and compares homes sales.  this year 2009, 2010 and 2011 were compared.

 "It's been a tough economy and it's reflected but there is some hope in certain areas where you see that properties are selling for a little bit more and you start to see pockets of that in certain areas," said Lopez.

 "I don't think that's a true indicator of what's going on in the market today," said Brad Crown, the president-elect for the Toledo Board of Realtors. 

 Crown says don't worry about these new values when selling your home.

 "That really has nothing to do with the market value of your home," said Crown.

 It's determined by supply and demand and right now supply is going down, demand going up, and so are prices.

 "When I list a home, I tell my sellers it doesn't matter what I think your home is worth or what you think your home is worth, it's what the person looking at homes to purchase them thinks it's worth," said Crown. 

 So why are so many home values going down?  Lopez says it's all about sale prices. 

 "What we try to tell folks is that every neighborhood, every street, every home has its individual value in 2012," said Lopez.

 Realtors point out that while the county looks at home sales from years ago, they are looking at home sales from weeks ago, even days ago.  So their data for market value is more up to date, especially as the market gets better.